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Kongsberg Automotive Holding ASA (OSL:KOA) Kongsberg, 6 October 2008
Kongsberg Automotive (KA) has decided to reorganize its business units by reducing the number of divisions from four to three. The organizational change will be made up by combining the two divisions serving the passenger car market (Driveline and Interior) into one new division named Automotive Systems.
There are two main drivers behind this decision;
1. A stronger market focus with one channel to the automotive OEMs. A combination of the two divisions was discussed as an option when the company launched the new organization at the beginning of this year. At that time the need to focus on internal integration drove the four division solution. The company is now ready for the next move with a stronger customer focus. 2. Combining the two divisions will represent an opportunity to streamline the organization and to reduce the number of organization units and thereby the number of managers - and also to avoid overlapping functions. In essence, the company want to utilize the reorganization as a tool to save cost and to get a more efficient and streamlined organization.
The new organization is expected to be operative from mid of October. Mr. Hans Peter Havdal is appointed new President of Automotive Systems. Havdal has been working in KA since 1990. Over time, Havdal has held a number of important posts at Kongsberg Automotive, including head of North American operations and recently President of Interior Systems.
The new business unit, Automotive Systems, will have more than 7.000 employees and will be offering a wide range of solutions for safety, comfort and driver interface products, including seat comfort- and gearshift systems.
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Kongsberg Automotive is headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway and has more than 50 facilities in 20 countries on all continents. Kongsberg Automotive, with revenues of about EUR1 billion and over 11,000 employees, provides system solutions to vehicle makers around the world. The product portfolio includes gearshift systems, cables for a wide variety of applications, fuel lines, tubing and hoses, couplings, clutch actuation, stabilizing rods, seat heaters, seat ventilation, lumbar supports, head restrains, arm rests, steering columns, pedals, electronics and displays. Find more information at www.kongsbergautomotive.com.
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For further information, please contact: Olav Volldal, CEO Ph: +47 32 77 05 10 / +47 98 21 40 14 e-mail: olav.volldal@ka-group.com
Hans Peter Havdal, President, Interior Systems Ph:+47 32 77 05 20. Mobile:+ 47 92 06 56 90 e-mail: hans.havdal@ka-group.com
