ROWE arrives at AAPEX celebrating 30 years in business and spotlighting its U.S. growth, performance motorsport pedigree, and sustainability-driven manufacturing—positioning the German lubricant maker as a notable stop for distributors and service providers on The Venetian Expo floor.
ROWE’s U.S. team will emphasize premium, German-engineered lubricants tailored to North American vehicles, alongside digital tools such as Oilfinder for fast product selection—an on-booth fit for AAPEX’s under-hood focus.
ROWE USA Inc. is led by President Ken Mooney, a 12-year brand veteran who stepped into the role in May 2023 after first representing ROWE when it entered the States in 2014. Mooney is a fixture at AAPEX for distributor engagement and market development.
30 years “united in progress”
Founded in 1995, ROWE remains a family-managed company with global reach. Founder Michael Zehe handed day-to-day leadership to a dual-CEO team on January 1, 2024: Dr. Alexandra Kohlmann and Stefan Wermter, who are steering the group’s next phase of growth while keeping manufacturing in Germany. The company marked its 30th with a September gala in Mainz celebrating partners and employees worldwide.
Factory edge and sustainability
ROWE’s Worms main plant—one of Europe’s most modern lubricant facilities—features dedicated product lines to reduce flushing, on-site solar (4,000 m²; 749 kWp), and combined heat & power, enabling major Scope 1 & 2 CO₂ cuts (over 40% since 2020) with a goal of a 90%+ reduction by 2030. Packaging from in-group supplier Palbo uses ~50% recycled material. These process efficiencies and vertical integration underpin reliability and supply-chain resiliency—a talking point for North American buyers this week.
New tech on display: SUNSPEED Truckstar
ROWE’s biosynthetic SUNSPEED line extends to heavy-duty with TRUCKSTAR SAE 5W-30 and 10W-40, both now approved to DEUTZ DQC IV-18 LA—evidence that sustainable formulations can meet stringent OEM requirements and extended drain performance.
ROWE’s in-house “driving laboratory,” ROWE RACING, delivered one of 2025’s biggest results: overall victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with the BMW M4 GT3 EVO—reinforcing the brand’s high-stress, endurance-proven chemistry. Next up, the team heads to the FIA GT World Cup in Macau (Nov. 13–16) with BMW works driver Raffaele Marciello and a special red livery that foregrounds ROWE’s performance identity.
Beyond GT endurance, ROWE extended its title sponsorship of the British Speedway Premiership for 2025, boosting brand visibility across broadcast and social channels and aligning with grassroots performance audiences.
With 70,000+ aftermarket professionals expected and a floor mapped to cluster oil, lube, and chemical innovations, ROWE’s combination of German manufacturing, sustainability metrics, and recent racing success offers distributors and shops a differentiated value proposition—premium products, visible performance proof, and a maturing U.S. organization built for partnerships.
