Visteon manager, Karl Krause, will become the next chairman and CEO of automotive supplier Kiekert.
Krause (46) will assume the roles from 1st June 2007. He replaces Dr. Wolfgang Theis, who has led the company since 1999.
Most recently Krause was head of the chassis/powertrain group at Visteon. As vice president of manufacturing operations for Europe and South America he was responsible for leading the effort to develop and implement business strategies to enhance the company’s manufacturing footprint in those two regions.
Previously Krause was operations director at TRW Automotive with responsibility for all European, Korean and South African operations manufacturing seat belt systems. Prior to TRW, Krause spent more than eight years with ITT-Automotive.
Kiekert claims to be the global leader in automotive locking systems. It also produces door modules and mechatronic drive systems. The company employs 3,500 people globally, 1,500 of which are in Germany.
