McDonald Appointed VP Public Affairs for Budd
16 February 1998
McDonald Appointed VP Public Affairs for Budd
TROY, Mich., Feb. 16 -- The Budd Company today announced the
appointment of Thomas F. McDonald as Corporate Vice President, Public Affairs.
McDonald joins Budd from the worldwide public relations firm, Hill and
Knowlton, Inc., where he was Senior Managing Director and General Manager of
the firm's Detroit office.
A 30-year veteran of the automotive industry, McDonald served 22 years
with Volkswagen of America in a variety of executive public relations
positions including 12 years as the company's senior public relations
executive. While with Hill and Knowlton, he was responsible for the national
Mazda account and served as senior counselor to Hill and Knowlton's worldwide
automotive clients.
Siegfried Buschmann, Chairman and CEO, said, "Tom brings to Budd a wealth
of experience and knowledge about the international automotive sector, which
will be extremely helpful as Budd continues its global growth."
McDonald will replace Paul Sichert, who is retiring on April 1, 1998,
after nearly 40 years of service to Budd. "Paul Sichert has been the most
visible symbol and the 'public voice' of The Budd Company for nearly 40
years," Buschmann said. "We will miss his counsel and his professionalism,
and we wish him well in retirement."
McDonald resides in Troy, Michigan with his wife and daughters.
Budd, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, produces components such as doors,
fenders, roofs, hoods, and decklids in sheet metal as well as in sheet molded
composite, and grey iron and ductile iron castings for about 100 current
vehicle models. Budd also makes prototypes, chassis frames and subframes,
cold weather starting and heating products and air bag components for the
automobile industry. Budd operates 25 facilities, with about 9,500 employees
in North America. In addition, the company has offices in Stuttgart, Germany,
and Tokyo, Japan. Budd is a Thyssen Budd Automotive company.
SOURCE The Budd Company