Management Changes Announced at Auto Supplier Behr
STUTTGART, Germany, Feb. 6 -- The Behr Group announced today
that Horst Geidel, 63, will retire from his position as CEO and management
board chairman on June 30 and assume the position of chairman of the company's
supervisory board.
Dr. Markus Flik, 42, will succeed Geidel as the company's chief executive
officer. He has been a member of the Behr Group's board of management since
1997 and currently is responsible for research and development, as well as
Behr's engine cooling product division.
Headquartered in Stuttgart, Behr is a leading supplier of air conditioning
and engine cooling systems for the automotive industry. In North America, the
company has more than 3,000 employees at facilities in Troy and Webberville,
Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; Canton, South Dakota, and
Fort Worth, Texas.
Geidel will succeed Dr. h.c. Walther Zuegel as chairman of the supervisory
board. Zuegel will remain as deputy chairman of the supervisory board. In
addition, Rudi Ludwig, 54, will leave the Behr Group on April 30, 2003, to
take over a new management position in the business sector. Klemens
Schmiederer, 43, and Dr. Andreas Thumm, 42, will become deputy members of
Behr's board of management effective July 1, 2003.
As of July 1, 2003, the members of the company's board of management will
be:
* Dr. Markus Flik (CEO), Sales, Customer Centers, Research and
Development.
* Hans-Joachim Lange, Behr America, North American Customer Centers.
Lange also is president of Behr America, Inc.
* Wolfgang Schaefer, Finance and Administration, Central Functions
Germany.
* Klemens Schmiederer (Deputy), Air Conditioning Product Division.
* Dr. Andreas Thumm (Deputy), Engine Cooling Product Division.
"The generational change at Behr guarantees continuity in our successful
business policy," Geidel said. "We will continue to be an innovative and
reliable partner for vehicle manufacturers."
Horst Geidel studied business administration at the University of Munich
and spent the first years of his career working for an accounting company
before joining Behr in 1964. He became a member of the Behr management board
in 1981 and has been CEO of the company since 1988.
Under his direction, Behr has developed from a medium-sized family company
into an international specialist for automotive air conditioning and engine
cooling, and is one of the leading original-equipment manufacturers for
passenger and commercial vehicles. Today the company has more than 16,000
employees compared with 7,700 in 1988. Geidel pushed the Behr Group to become
an international player. Sales abroad have increased tenfold since 1988.
Total sales grew by five times in the same period and will exceed 3 billion
euros for the first time in fiscal year 2003.
Geidel has developed both internal and external communications at the
company and turned the Behr's corporate culture into a competitive advantage.
His corporate strategies have built a traditional components supplier into a
systems and module supplier for the automotive industry. Today, Behr is the
technological leader in its market segments and a recognized development
partner for manufacturers of passenger cars and trucks.
Geidel developed the concept of a virtual supplier group in the 1990s.
Since then, Behr has been able to substantially expand its product competence
as well as market presence through cooperation with partners. Some of Behr's
most important partners today include the German lighting and electronics
specialist Hella KG Hueck & Co., which works with Behr on electronics and
large modules, and two Japanese companies that produce air conditioning
compressors and engine cooling components, respectively.
Geidel also has focused on continually expanding the company's business in
North America. The acquisition of Dayton Thermal Products in Ohio, a former
DaimlerChrysler plant, in May 2002 has finally brought Behr into the major
league of global suppliers.
Geidel has been a member of the board of the German Association of the
Automotive Industry (VDA) since 1992 and of the Association for the Metal
Industry in Southwest Germany. He also holds seats on the supervisory and
advisory boards of several companies in the supplier and metal industries.
As chairman of the supervisory board, Geidel will continue to provide the
Behr Group with assistance on strategic topics and serve as chairman of its
U.S. companies.
Dr. Markus Flik studied mechanical engineering in Stuttgart, Zurich and
Berkeley, California, where he was awarded his doctor's degree in 1989. He
later served as a member of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Flik joined Behr in 1992, where he
was initially head of strategic planning and later head of advanced
engineering for air conditioning and also of A/C product development. He was
appointed to the board of management in 1997.
Dr. Flik has championed the introduction of innovative management
processes at Behr and considerably strengthened the company's advanced
engineering capabilities, thus enabling Behr to expand its position as a
technology leader. The company, for example, launched in 2002 the world's
first series-produced, four-zone air-conditioning module, allowing both driver
and front- and rear-seat passengers to create their own personalized comfort
zones.
Under Flik's direction the productivity of Behr's development processes
has been substantially increased and a global cost and supplier management
system installed. As a result, Behr has been able to strengthen its position
significantly as a development partner to the automotive industry. Flik also
has been the driving force behind activities aimed at developing the Japanese
market. With the building of its Research and Development Center in Troy,
Michigan, Behr has created the foundation for the technical integration of its
recently acquired plant in Dayton, Ohio.
Flik is a member of several advisory boards for research associations and
scientific journals.
"With Dr. Markus Flik, a committed engineer and excellent manager has
taken the helm of Behr," Geidel noted.
Rudi Ludwig has been a member of Behr's board of management since 1992 and
is responsible for sales, customer centers and the air conditioning product
division. In the past few years, he has successfully implemented a structure
for customer centers at Behr and improved the company's market position.
"We are sorry to lose Rudi Ludwig," Geidel said. "He contributed greatly
to the expansion of the company's customer base."
Klemens Schmiederer studied aeronautical and aerospace engineering in
Stuttgart, and rounded out his studies in London before coming to Behr in
1987. Since then he has held positions in advanced engineering and product
development, as well as in the engine cooling and air conditioning product
divisions. He was the chief engineer of product development for four years at
Behr in the U.S., and has been leading the air conditioning product line for
Germany and overseas since 2000.
Dr. Andreas Thumm studied chemical engineering at the University of
Stuttgart and received his doctor's degree from the Institute for Aerodynamics
and Gas Dynamics. He started at Behr in 1991 in product development and then
moved to the U.S. for four years to work as a project manager, and later
customer center manager. He has been responsible for engine cooling product
lines since 1998. He currently leads the Behr product line for trucks, as
well as the components product group in the engine cooling product division.
Dr. Thumm is also managing director of Behr Czech s.r.o.
"Both Mr. Schmiederer and Dr. Thumm have already proven themselves in
various fields, have excellent qualifications and are ready for this new
challenge," Geidel said.
Behr GmbH & Co. KG is a systems partner for the international automobile
industry. A specialist for automotive air conditioning and engine cooling
systems, the Behr Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers and
suppliers of original equipment for passenger and commercial vehicles. Group
sales in the 2002 business year came to approximately 2.8 billion euros.
Currently Behr employs more than 16,000 people in 25 production facilities in
Europe, North and South America, South Africa and India. Additional
information is available on the Internet at http://www.behrgroup.com .