Henrik Wilhelmsmeyer has been appointed director for Mainland China at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. He replaces Jenny Zhang, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Wilhelmsmeyer has moved from Rolls-Royce's owner BMW where he has held a number of senior roles and spent the last six years in China. His last role was as head of the China South region and he was also previously head of dealer development for BWW and vehicle logistics for the BMW-Brilliance Automotive joint venture in the country.
Paul Harris will continue in his role as regional director for the Asia Pacific Region, with responsibility for all Asia Pacific markets, excluding Mainland China.
"I am delighted to announce this important new role for Rolls-Royce," said Jolyon Nash, director, Sales and Marketing. "China has become one of our most important markets globally and Henrik, with his broad experience and strong track record, is ideally suited to further develop our strong position in this region. I want to thank Jenny Zheng for her contribution over the past seven years."
In 2011, China became the leading sales region for Rolls-Royce worldwide for the first time, narrowly beating the US to the top spot. The carmaker's best-selling dealership for the year was located in Beijing.
Massimo Nordio has been appointed CEO of Volkswagen Group Italia moving from his position as Volkswagen brand director in Italy. He succeeds Dr Giuseppe Tartaglione, who has taken up the newly-created management role of chairman of Corporate Relations for Volkswagen.
Following various positions in the advertising industry and as sales manager of Ford in Italy, Nordio joined Toyota Motor Italia in 2007 before transferring to Toyota Motor Europe in 2008, where he was vice president responsible for aftersales, parts logistics and customer support.
Supply chain management provider UTi has appointed Greg Slawson as director of account solutions for Ford within its Global Automotive Vertical division. He will be responsible for leading the sales activities of the carmaker's account globally.
Most recently CEO at Oil Purification Systems, Slawson has held a number of roles in the automotive industry including at Ford where he was the manufacturing, production and logistics manager for two different component manufacturing plants.
He has also serviced as vice president, Automotive Solutions at G-Log and was manager, MP&L at Visteon Automotive Systems.
Elsewhere in the company Mike Valentine has been appointed regional vice president Automotive, Americas, where will be responsible for all automotive vertical related activities across the Americas region working closely with both the Freight Forwarding and Contract Logistics and Distribution divisions in the Americas.
Valentine will also continue to be a member of the global Automotive Leadership Team (ALT). His primary focus will be to further integrate UTi's sales effort in the automotive sector, particularly in the US, Mexico and Brazil.
Valentine joined UTi in 2009 as director, SDi where he led consulting projects in the automotive and chemical verticals.
For the past half year, he has also served as Global DAS for Carlisle during which Carlisle has grown to become UTi's largest Shared Ocean Solution (SOS) client in the China to North America trade lane, as well as a Transport Management System client.
Prior to UTi, Valentine worked for GM where he was director, Process Re-engineering for the company's global supply chains.
Christian Schreyer has become the CEO of DB Schenker Rail Polska replacing Hans-Georg Werner who has taken over the position of chairman of the supervisory board of DB Schenker Rail Polska and will continue to hold the position of CEO of Region East at DB Schenker Rail.
Schreyer moves from his position as head of production and human resources. He joined Deutsche Bahn in 1999 having previously worked for several years as a lawyer. In 2002 he became director of the Legal Department at DB Services. In 2004 he took on the position of director of Development and Business Management at DB Services. In 2006 he became director of Strategic Development at Deutsche Bahn AG. In 2009 he took over the position of head of the PMI (Post Merger Integration) project, during which he actively participated in the integration process and the creation of DB Schenker Rail Polska. Then he was appointed board member for Human Resources and Logistics in the new structure of the Polish company. In addition, in 2009, he also took over the position of board member for Production.
"It is the opinion of the heads of DB Schenker Rail that this is the right time to make a change at the top. As my successor, Christian Schreyer will ensure a seamless transition as well as continuity of management. I wish him a lot of successes in the execution of the new tasks ahead," said Werner.
Elsewhere at DB Schenker Rail DB the UK arm has appointed David Cross as Customer Service Manager for its Logistics segment.
Cross has a background in the maritime intermodal and logistics sectors and has been instrumental in delivering new products and services for retailers enabling them to switch from road to rail said the company.
"In order to encourage retailers to switch from road to rail, they need exceptional service delivery," said Cross. "We have delivered that for a number of retail customers leading to significant new business for rail freight. My role is to deliver further growth in this sector, and I look forward to achieving that."
Gefco has named John Stocker as its UK sales and marketing director.
Stocker was previously commercial director at UK-based transport provider Acumen Distribution, a position he held for just more than seven years and where he focused on inbound logistics for vehicle manufacturers. He previously worked at 3t Logistics and Isotrak amongst others.
He also worked in a number of management positions at Ryder between1988 and 1997. As business development director at the company he was part of the team that successfully grew it from start-up to a company with £100m per annum turnover. Notable contract wins during that period included the just-in-time, inbound parts operation for Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK.
Canadian Pacific Railway has appointed Hunter Harrison as its new president and CEO, as well as making him a member of the Board of Directors.
Harrison has almost 50 years of railroad experience and previously served as the president and CEO of Canadian National Railway Company and before that as president & CEO of Illinois Central Railroad.
"Candadian Pacific is an incredible franchise with significant market opportunity, solid infrastructure, and innovative and hard-working employees," said Harrison. "I am proud to be working with one of North America's iconic companies and I look forward to quickly getting to know the priorities of CP's customers, shareholders, employees, and the communities served by the railway."
