Former Karmann CEO Peter Harbig, 50, will become the new chief executive of auto industry supplier Honsel, the company has announced.
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Honsel manufactures cast, extruded and rolled aluminium and magnesium engine, transmission, suspension and body parts.
Honsel’s supervisory board approved the appointment on Tuesday. Harbig replaces current CEO Heinz Pfannschmidt, 62, who has been with the company since 2006.
According to Financial Times Deutschland, Manager Magazin said in its online edition that Pfannschmidt had disagreed with Honsel supervisory board chairman Edward Krubasik over his compensation and cited company sources as saying Pfannschmidt would work as a consultant for Honsel until 2011, the year his contract was originally to expire.
“The supervisory board of Honsel AG consented to the request of the chief executive officer, Heinz Pfannschmidt to retire following the successful conclusion of the financial restructuring…” the supplier said in a statement announcing Harbig’s appointment, effective 1 September.
Honsel was restructured from mid-2008. Opel bidder RHJ International is the main shareholder, with a 51% holding, and injected a further EUR50m of fresh capital into the company in July 2009.
“We are delighted to welcome Peter Harbig, a proven expert in the automotive business as well as in material sciences, [as CEO]. His experience in sales and restructuring will further support Honsel’s current programme of reorganisation and growth”, said supervisory board chairman Edward Krubasik.
Before joining Karmann in 2006, Harbig headed sales and marketing at Magna Steyr in Austria. Parent Magna International is also bidding for Opel.
As CEO of Honsel, Harbig will be responsible for sales and marketing, replacing the current chief, Wilfried Janke, who, the company said, would be leaving by the end of September “at his own request”.
