John P Devaney

Roger L. Howsmon has been named as the new president of Perkins Engines, Inc., a major supplier of diesel engines in the U.S. and Canada and part of the worldwide Perkins Engines Group based in Peterborough, England.

The announcement was made by John F. Devaney, managing director of the Perkins Engines Group, which is a major division of Massey-Ferguson, Ltd., of Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Devaney said that Mr.

Howsmon joins Perkins at a time when the company is dramatically increasing its North American operations.

Perkins, which has long been the dominant supplier of diesel engines in the 51 to 300-horsepower range in the U.S. and Canada, recently expanded its product line to range from 3Vi to 1,200 horsepower.

The expansion includes the acquisition of the former Rolls-Royce Diesel Engine Division product line, which was introduced into North America last year.

Mr. Howsmon joins Perkins from Cummins Engine Company's largest independent distributorship in North America, Cummins West Inc., based in San Francisco, Calif., where he was vice president, marketing.

He was educated at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He was also a captain in the United States Air Force before joining Cummins Engine Company in 1971.

During his business career he held a number of sales and marketing positions with Cummins and was a corporate vice president, sales and service for North America prior to his appointment in 1983 as vice president-marketing, Cummins West, Inc.

As president of Perkins Engines, Inc., Mr. Howsmon will be responsible for the further development of Perkins's interests in North America and Canada. Since its formation in 1960, Perkins, based in Wayne, Mich., has become a leading supplier of light and medium-duty diesel engines, and today there are more than one million Perkins engines in operation in the U.S. and Canada.

He succeeds Bill Winemaster, who recently retired from Perkins Engine, Inc. Mr. Winemaster, after spending over 25 years with Perkins, the last 12 as president, is launching a new Perkins distributorship in the Great Lakes area.

The Perkins Engines Group is world leader in the design and manufacture of diesel engines. The company reached a milestone late last year, becoming the first diesel engine manufacturer to produce 10 million engines. It engines are manufactured or assembled in 16 countries of the world and sold in more than 160. Total worldwide production of Perkins engines is around 400,000 a year.

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