Industry Elite: Tony Rimas of XPEL

Tony Rimas, Vice President of Global Revenue at XPEL, spent nearly two decades at the Red McCombs family office before launching a series of automotive‑focused venture investments. He later joined Kinderhook Industries, sat on multiple boardrooms, and ran Repairify, gaining a rare blend of capital‑allocation and operational expertise. In 2020 he returned to the aftermarket as a senior executive at XPEL, a NASDAQ‑listed paint‑protection leader. His dual perspective lets him spot investment opportunities that most pure‑play operators miss, a skill set increasingly valuable as the used‑car market tightens and technology accelerates.

Rimas describes XPEL’s culture as a ‘no tomorrow’ mindset—speedy decisions backed by servant‑leadership principles he absorbed from Red McCombs and CEO Ryan Pate. The company now employs roughly 1,300 people across six continents, yet maintains a single, efficiency‑driven ethos that treats time as the most valuable asset. Mentors like Chase Frazier reinforced the mantra ‘work smarter,’ while Pate’s hands‑on approach, from boardroom talks to coding sessions, demonstrates how a unified culture can deliver rapid product rollouts and sustain customer confidence in a fragmented aftermarket landscape.

Beyond leadership, Rimas draws parallels between automotive aftermarket cycles and oil‑gas price swings, noting that both sectors survive by adapting to volatile pricing—from $40 to $70 per barrel—to keep margins healthy. He credits personal discipline, such as daily road‑cycling, for sharpening focus and resilience, traits he expects his regional heads to emulate. As XPEL prepares for the upcoming Used Car Industry Summit, the blend of venture insight, execution‑first culture, and market‑agnostic adaptability positions the firm to capture growth opportunities in a post‑pandemic used‑car boom while reinforcing its reputation as a technology‑driven, customer‑centric player.