Guenter Froelich retires, Ignacio Salazar moves up at Tristone
FRANKFURT, Germany—Guenter Froelich, who held the firm's top posts for nine years, left the group on June 30.
Guenter Froelich retires, Ignacio Salazar moves up at Tristone
FRANKFURT, Germany—Guenter Froelich, who held the firm's top posts for nine years, left the group on June 30.
FRANKFURT, Germany—Guenter Froelich has retired as president and CEO of Tristone Flowtech Group GmbH and Ignacio Salazar has moved up to take his place.
Froelich, who held the firm's top posts for nine years, left the group on June 30. The 62-year-old executive, however, will become a member of the hose maker's advisory board on July 1. Salazar, 47, who was the senior vice president of sales and marketing, took over as president and CEO June 1.
Pointing out that he and the board began planning for his retirement two years ago, Froelich said that "now is a good time to spend with my family, on hobbies and the one or other engagements as a supervisory board member in Tristone and outside the group." It also comes at the right time, he added, because "the most difficult time with the pandemic is behind the company."
Looking back on his tenure as the firm's top executive, he's proudest of the way the company has developed from a niche player in the automotive fluid business, focusing principally on Europe, to a large global automotive supplier of engine and battery fluid hoses as well as air charge systems for the passenger car sector.
Tristone now does business with most global original equipment manufacturers and operates 12 production plants along with sales and engineering centers in Europe, the NAFTA region, China and India, Froelich noted. Sales have nearly tripled to more than $452 million and employment doubled to about 5,500, he said. Those revenue totals for 2019 included $270 million from Europe and $76.5 million in North America.
In addition to the company's strong bases in Europe and the NAFTA region, he added, "with the recent acquisition and integration of an automotive supplier group in China, our market position there will be significantly expanded."
But there has been a low point, too. "Our market entry in India is behind schedule," Froelich said. "But it was the right strategic decision to enter the sixth biggest passenger car market. The Indian market today is where the Chinese passenger car market was 10 years ago."
He said he is looking forward to working with other members of the board and Salazar—who Froelich said is an excellent manager—in further developing the company according to the firm's strategy and helping it to grow in the coming years.
Salazar, who joined the firm in 2013, began his career as an engineer in 1999. He was appointed to a sales position two years later and from there moved into manager posts, and eventually was hired by Tristone as senior vice president of sales and marketing.
"I also had the opportunity to complement my technical background with an executive MBA and some additional post graduate courses, mainly in finance," Salazar said. "My whole working life has been bonded to the automotive industry."
He has been well prepared to take over the top posts in the company, both Froelich and Salazar said. According to Salazar, "the initial conversations (on becoming president and CEO) began two years ago. Since then, the company and I have been preparing for the change to happen in a smooth way … with the support of Mr. Froelich and the shareholders."
Salazar said he humbly accepted the jobs "knowing that the step and expectations were big. The challenge is very important, but also the team around me is very strong, professional, solid, and all of them have offered the commitment and support we need to continue driving the company in the right direction together under my lead."
Anyone taking on a new position brings in some fresh air, a new perspective, ideas and a new personal management style, he said. "However, the company has a solid strategy and way forward that I do not intend to change or drastically deviate from."
He said he likely will take some different approaches, "applying my personal view; but clear transparent communication, open discussions, a direct and fair approach (along with) a clear definition of targets and (a plan to move forward) will be applied."
Tristone has a promising future ahead of it and the current pandemic only has made the company that much stronger, Salazar said. The firm is well prepared for the changeover at the top and has a solid financial structure in place, especially after expanding its footprint globally to support the automotive industry, he added.
"Our major focus keeps being our growth consolidation outside of Europe," he said. "Our specific developments, products and applications, especially in battery cooling, will play a very big role in this plan. Tristone's expertise and know-how in this field is huge and the added value we're able to bring to our customers by being a design partner to them is highly appreciated."
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