Jul 3, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Dr. Guido Hanel Appointed Chairman of Kiekert Management Board

Kiekert AG’s supervisory board has announced the appointment of Dr. Guido Hanel as chairman of the company’s management board.

Hanel succeeds Dr. Karl Krause under whose leadership the company developed into a global automotive supplier. Krause will leave Kiekert at the end of June at which time the membership of the company’s management board will be reduced from three to two members.

Kiekert is the world’s technology leader in automotive locking systems. Hanel, 50, has held senior positions at Kiekert since 2006. He was appointed to the company’s management board in September 2017 as chief operating officer (COO). He previously had served as executive vice president for Program, Planning and Quality.

Hanel began his career at Kiekert in the company’s Works, Fabrication and Production Planning group and went on to become general manager of Kiekert’s largest plant in the Czech Republic. He also had served as general manager of Stahlwille Group in Wuppertal, Germany.

He studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University in Germany and holds a doctorate (PhD) from the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL).

Kiekert’s supervisory board commended the success of the company’s outgoing Chairman of the Management Board Karl Krause and thanked him for his long and successful leadership of Kiekert, particularly in respect to the globalization of the company’s far-reaching operations.

“Karl Krause was appointed chairman of the management board in 2007 and successfully restructured Kiekert with a new growth strategy,” said Hanel. “His period in office included the expansion of the product portfolio to become a systems supplier and the resulting strengthening of the company’s success.”

Kiekert has been part of the Chinese Lingyun Group since 2012. The deal was one of the first major merger-and-acquisition transactions in Germany by Chinese investors. Today, Kiekert supplies automotive manufacturers worldwide with access systems and mechatronic components. Over the last decade, Kiekert has substantially increased it profits and almost doubled its sales revenues.

Founded in 1857, Kiekert AG is the world’s technology leader for automotive locking systems. The company employs 6,500 people in 11 countries at eight production plants, seven development centers and three sales units, developing, producing and selling tailor-made customer solutions 24/7. Sales revenue in 2017 totaled 830 million euros.

Note to Editors: Photos of Dr. Krause and Dr. Hanel are available in the press section on Kiekert’s website at: http://www.kiekert.com/en/press/press-releases/details/guido-hanel-appointed-new-chairman-of-the-management-board-of-kiekert-ag