Stephen Frey is a senior vice president of Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, LLC (HDMA) and the center lead of the company's North American Automotive Development Center (ADC). In this role, he oversees research and development of auto products and accessories for the North American region. In addition to this role, he leads the Technical Strategy Division, responsible for the ADC resource strategy, development quality, planning and management, as well as technology & architecture strategy.
Frey joined Honda in 1998 at the East Liberty Auto Plant in Ohio as a mechanical engineer. In this role, he also worked on assignment at Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario, where he supported chassis and powertrain development for the 2001 Acura MDX.
In 2000, Frey transferred to Honda R&D Americas, LLC (HRA) as a mechanical engineer and assistant technical expert in the Fuel Design Department.
In 2002, he was promoted to senior engineer at HRA, with responsibility for chassis development for the 2003 Honda Element.
In 2008, Frey become principal engineer at HRA, overseeing chassis development and serving as the assistant development leader of the 2011 Honda Odyssey.
In 2017, he was promoted to chief engineer at HRA. During this time, he was the assistant development leader of the 2019 Acura RDX.
In 2019, Frey was the development leader of the 2023 Honda Pilot, then the largest and most powerful 3-row SUV in Honda history, including the Pilot TrailSport.
In 2021, the HRA Ohio Center became the North American Auto Development Center, which was established as part of a corporate restructuring that unified auto development, production engineering and manufacturing operations in America.
In 2023, he was promoted to vice president and regional function leader, Development Operations, overseeing all new model development projects across ADC operations.
In 2025, Frey became vice president of Development Strategy, responsible for the company's automobile product planning for the North American region.
In April 2026, he took on a new role as vice president of the Technology Strategy Division, which includes the ADC resource strategy, development quality, planning and management, as well as technology & architecture strategy.
In October 2026, Frey was promoted to his current role as senior vice president and center lead of ADC, retaining responsibility for leading the Technology Strategy Division.
Frey earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toledo.
