Engine Manufacturer Kohler Changes Name to Rehlko
After rebranding a year ago to Kohler Energy, the Wisconsin-based company once again has a new name.
machineryasia 
After rebranding a year ago to Kohler Energy, the company once again has a new name.
Its new name is Rehlko, and Kohler Power Systems and Kohler Engines will be the first businesses within the corporation to be rebranded by the end of the year.
The rebranding follows the purchase of a majority stake in Kohler Energy in 2023 by Platinum Equity, an international investment firm. The family-owned Kohler Company, best known for bath and kitchen products, remains an investment partner.
Headquartered in Wisconsin, Rehlko will maintain operations in more than 100 locations across the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the company says.
Brian Melka has been named Rehlko CEO. He joined Kohler in 2013 as vice president of Engines Americas and rose to Group Energy president in 2020.
“We are embracing our future as an independent company with the new Rehlko brand and celebrating our legacy and our commitment for tackling the most complex energy challenges, and the values that guide everything we do and stand for,” Melka said. “Our company’s new name is derived from the six letters of Kohler and reflects the reliability, resolve, reinvention, and resilience that have been – and will remain – the hallmarks of this organization in addressing the ever-evolving distributed energy needs of the marketplace.”
Kohler was founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler as a manufacturer of plows and farm implements. The founder’s grandson Herbert V. Kohler Jr. expanded the company into new businesses globally, including power, with more than 48 acquisitions. Kohler Jr. died September 23, 2022, at age 83, with Kohler as the third-largest global power systems organization in the world. David Kohler, Herbert Jr.’s son, is the fourth generation to run Kohler Co.
