UK-based GKN Automotive, a leading supplier for drive systems has made four appointments to its executive team, including a new CEO. Markus Bannert replaces Liam Butterworth as the CEO for GKN Automotive, who has now moved into a new role as CEO of Dowlais Group.
He was previously President of Driveline at GKN Automotive. Before joining the business four years ago, he held a variety of positions at automotive supplier Hella, including CEO of its Lighting division, CFO for the company’s NAFTA region, as well as Head of Program Management and Plant Manager within the Lighting division.
As part of a recent move by GKN Automotive to create two new functional arms of the business – operations and engineering – Dr. Dirk Kesselgruber has been appointed CTO. In this newly created role, he will lead the engineering and programme management arm of the business and oversee the company’s product portfolio. He was previously President of ePowertrain at GKN Automotive for more than two years; prior to that, he was President Chassis Systems at Schaeffler and Senior VP of Global Steering Engineering at ZF TRW.
Sean Bannon will join the company as CFO on May 22, succeeding Roberto Fioroni who has moved into the role of CFO at Dowlais Group. Bannon has around 25 years of experience in financial and international leadership roles, most recently at Amcor, a global packaging producer, where he has driven business transformation efforts as the VP of Finance & IT within its European Flexible Packaging business.
Piyush Upadhyay was recently appointed Chief Human Resources Officer for the company. He comes with more than 25 years of experience. He had joined GKN Automotive in December 2022 and brings a wealth of global experience in HR and organisational transformation. He previously worked at Tenneco Automotive where he was the Executive Director (EMEA) for the company’s Clean Air division. Upadhyay has held various roles in other global organisations including the Tata Group and Volkswagen in India.
Markus Bannert said, “Having spent over four years embedded in the business, I have been impressed by GKN Automotive’s capabilities as an engineering powerhouse at the forefront of innovation. Now is a truly exciting time for the business as we leverage our global leadership in driveline products and build on our capability to develop and deliver eDrive systems and components. We already have a comprehensive product portfolio that has evolved for electric platforms, as well as a strong R&D footprint that has enabled us to be a pioneer in the eDrive market for over 20 years.”
