Dr. Sohi Named Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg-NOK
PLYMOUTH, Mich., March 4 -- Dr. Mohsen Sohi, 43, has been named chief executive officer for Freudenberg-NOK G.P., the Americas unit of the global Freudenberg and NOK Group Companies. The announcement was made by Dr. Peter Stehle, who serves as chairman of the board of Freudenberg-NOK and as managing partner of parent company Freudenberg & Co. of Weinheim, Germany.
Sohi joins Freudenberg-NOK March 10 and will be based at the company's headquarters and technology center in Plymouth. He succeeds Dr. Herbert Fehrecke, who has served as interim chief executive officer for the company since October 2002.
Sohi has more than 16 years of engineering and management experience in the automotive, aerospace, electronics and retail sectors. Most recently, he was senior vice president of the Retail Solutions Division of NCR Corp., where he directed the company's global retail store automation business, including product development, engineering, marketing sales and technical support.
Prior to joining NCR in 2001, he spent more than 14 years at AlliedSignal Corp. and its post-merger successor, Honeywell International Inc., advancing through positions of increasing responsibility in technology, product development, operations and general management.
In 1993, Sohi became department chief, materials and processes for AlliedSignal Engine Division and in 1995, he was named director of product development for AlliedSignal Automotive. He was promoted to vice president and general manager within the company's Turbocharging Systems Division in 1997 and was appointed president of its Commercial Vehicle Systems Division in 1999. After AlliedSignal's merger with Honeywell, he served until 2001 as president of Honeywell Electronic Materials, a $1 billion business unit providing semiconductor materials and interconnect solutions.
Sohi received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.), a master of business administration degree from the Wharton School of Management at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Washington University (St. Louis). He holds two patents relating to manufacturing of advanced materials and has authored numerous technical papers.
Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg-NOK is part of the Freudenberg and NOK Group Companies, which have total annual sales of nearly $7 billion. With worldwide automotive sales of approximately $4 billion, the Freudenberg and NOK Group was ranked No. 2 in global balance among top automotive suppliers (according to Automotive News International - Sept. 2001) and No. 22 in global sales among the world's top OEM automotive suppliers (per Automotive News - June 17, 2002).
Through a global network of facilities spanning 27 countries with some 25,000 automotive employees worldwide, the supplier group offers its automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.
The global Freudenberg and NOK Group also offers an extensive portfolio of special precision seals for the aerospace, appliance, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets.
For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK web site at www.freudenberg-nok.com .
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