Gingl

Car interiors specialist International Automotive Components Group named former Magna International Inc. executive Manfred Gingl as CEO following the retirement of Steve Miller this month.

Austria-born Gingl, 69, was CEO of Magna Aftermarket from 2008-10 and had previously been executive vice chairman of Aurora, Ontario-based Magna. He was most recently CEO of Canadian electric bike company BionX, which went into receivership in February.

"We are excited to have an executive as accomplished and respected as Manfred lead IAC and execute our strategic plans to grow the company," IAC Chairman Stephen Toy said in a statement.

IAC specialises in injection mouldded interior parts such as dashboards, consoles and door panels. It is ranked as the largest injection mouldder in North America in Plastics News' new ranking, with nearly $1.6 billion in sales of injection moulded parts in the region. It is 41st on Automotive News' top 100 parts suppliers list with a revenue of $4.4 billion in 2017. It is majority owned by WL Ross & Co, which is co-headed by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

IAC has its corporate office in Luxembourg with operations based in Southfield, Michigan.

Gingl migrated from Austria to Canada in 1966 and began his career a tool and die maker with Multimatic Inc. The company was merged with Magna Electronics in 1968 to form Magna International.

Gingl was a close confidant of Magna founder Frank Stronach and held increasingly senior positions at the supplier, including CEO of Magna International from 1988 to 1992.

IAC said Natale Rea, who was interim CEO after Miller's retirement, will continue as president. Miller had been IAC president since 2015. Before that his resume included a stint as executive chairman of Delphi Corp. during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy from 2007 until its emergence in 2009.

In April, IAC secured new financing by issuing $215m (€185m) of notes to funds managed by Gamut Capital Management, which gave the New York private equity firm a minority stake in the auto supplier. Top executive changes often occur when new ownership is established, though there's no indication that happened here.

Gingl has explored disruptive mobility technologies for the past several years, according to a news release.

"It's an exciting time to be in this industry as the world moves toward autonomy and reimagines the future of mobility," he said in a statement. "IAC is embracing megatrends such as autonomy, ride sharing, connectivity and cleaner driving by developing exciting solutions that will meet the many demands of the cockpit of the future."