TI Automotive Adds Three to Management Ranks

WARREN, Mich., July 13 -- TI Automotive, the world's leading supplier of fuel, storage and delivery systems, has appointed three executives to key management positions.

Rick Hein has become global commercial and IT director for TI Automotive's Fluid Carry Systems Group, a newly created position, in Warren, Michigan. Previously, he was responsible for the division's Quality and IT strategy. Rick will continue to report directly to Rich Kolpasky, president of Global Fluid Carrying Systems.

Janice Stipp, formerly with Oxford Automotive, was appointed North American finance director for TI Automotive's Global Fuel Systems Group, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Claus Wich has been named TI Automotive vice president for global purchasing for the Fluid Carrying Systems Group, and will be based in Warren, Michigan. He joins TI Automotive from Robert Bosch Corporation.

Hein will be responsible for acquisition of new business, customer strategies and market research. He joined TI Automotive in 1997 after 10 years with Borg Warner Automotive, where he held various positions with its Automatic Transmission Systems Division.

A native of Chicago, Ill., Hein holds a bachelor's degree in business management and management information systems from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He resides in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Stipp previously was vice president of finance at Oxford Automotive. She will report to Simon Thomas, the Fuel System division's global finance director.

A resident of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., she has more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting in the automotive industry and is a certified public accountant. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and a master's degree in business administration from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Wich comes to TI Automotive after 22 years at Robert Bosch Corp, most recently as North American director of Corporate Purchasing and Logistics. In his new role, he will bring together the international collective purchasing strength of TI Automotive's Global Fluid Carrying Systems. Wich also reports to Kolpasky.

Wich began his career at Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany as a manufacturing engineer. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart. He moved to the U.S. in 1990 and resides in Canton, Michigan.

TI Automotive is the world's leading supplier of fluid storage, transfer and delivery systems including brake, fuel and air conditioning applications. Based in Warren, Mich., the company employs over 20,000 people at more than 130 facilities in 29 countries on six continents. Further information about TI Automotive is available on the company's website at http://www.tiautomotive.com/ .