DETROIT -- Brose North America named Wilm Uhlenbecker as its new president, based in suburban Detroit.
Uhlenbecker, who carries more than two decades of experience as a global executive in the auto supplier sector, is charged with managing operations and guiding strategy, the supplier of automotive latches and window mechanisms said in a news release. His first day was July 1.
Frank Lubischer, a veteran supplier executive, served as president of the Brose North America, the North American unit of Germany's Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co., for 10 months up until his death in December. He was 56.
Previously, Uhlenbecker was president and CEO of Farmington Hills-based Akebono Brake Corp., where he led a "corporate operational and financial transformation," the release said.
He also served as president and CEO of Mahle Behr USA Inc., where he oversaw the acquisition and integration of Delphi Automotive PLC's thermal management business. Delphi Automotive split into two public companies in early December 2017 — Delphi Technologies and Aptiv, both based in Troy.
Uhlenbecker weaved through leadership posts in engineering, quality and operations during his time at Anderson, S.C.-based Associated Fuel Pump Systems Corp. and Germany's Robert Bosch, the release said.
Uhlenbecker earned an MBA and a doctorate in engineering from Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University in Germany.
Brose ranks No. 39 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global auto suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $7.34 billion in 2018.
