Gates

Announces a new management

Gates announces a new management organization of its Automotive Aftermarket business with three new created senior management positions.

Pierre Souletie (51 years) replaces Peter Verdonckt as Vice President Automotive Aftermarket Sales and Marketing EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Pierre graduated from the INSA in Lyon (France) and from the Northwestern University in Chicago (US), joining Gates in 1996 as a Planning Manager in the French V-Belt manufacturing site in Nevers. He moves up from Director of Sales & Operations and Distribution for the European organization, where he was a driving force behind enhancements in customer service and satisfaction.

Frank Nieuwenhuys, Director of Sales will be relocating to China as Vice President, Automotive Replacement for the APAC Region in August 2015. Consecutively, Gates strengthens its regional approach by organizing the European Sales into three new big regions.

Regional Sales Manager Taco Homan has accepted a new job as Regional Sales Director North. The new post gives him additional sales responsibilities in a sales area that now extends from the UK across Eastern Europe (including German speaking countries and Benelux). Homan, who joined Gates in 1998, also manages sales in South Africa.

France Regional Sales Manager Patrice Piasentin takes on the new role of Regional Sales Director South. This governs sales in Southern Europe, the Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Middle East and North Africa. Piasentin joined Gates in 2008, successfully managing the French organization in the last years.

Russia and CIS Sales Manager Igor Graf, who joined Gates in 2009, was the architect of a successful distribution model in the CIS countries. He becomes Regional Commercial Manager for those countries

Gates - Taco Homan 

Gates - Pierre Souletie