The Supervisory Board of industrial giant Voith AG has named Hubert Lienhard, head of Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, to be the next president and chief executive officer of the Voith AG parent firm. Lienhard is to succeed Voith President Hermut Kormann upon Kormann’s retirement March 31, 2008.
Kormann, who will be 66 upon retirement, joined Voith in 1989 as head of Finance and Accounting. He assumed his current position in April 2000. During Kormann’s tenure, Voith Group business grew to 5 billion euros (US$7 billion) from 1.2 billion euros (US$1.69 billion).
Under Kormann’s leadership, Voith made numerous acquisitions, strengthening the company’s leadership in paper, energy, and transportation markets. In recognition of his service to entrepreneurial and social issues, Kormann received Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit in May.
Lienhard joined Voith AG in 2001 after 20 years at Lurgi GmbH and ABB Group. He became president and chief executive officer of Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation in 2002. During his tenure, Voith’s hydropower equipment joint venture with Siemens increased its incoming order volume to more than 1 billion euros (US$1.4 billion) from 500 million euros (US$707.4 million).
The board named management board member Roland Munch to succeed Lienhard as chief executive of Voith Siemens Hydro, taking office, like Lienhard, April 1, 2008.
After various positions with ABB Group, Munch joined Voith in 2002 as a member of the board of Voith Paper Holding. He has been responsible for the Automation Business Division within Voith Paper since October 2002. Since 2006, he has been a deputy member of the management board of Voith AG.
