New Head for ZF Aftermarket

Date: Wednesday 16 December 2020

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Philippe Colpron (42 years) takes over as an Executive Vice President and has the responsibilities as Head of ZF’s aftermarket division on January 1st, 2021. As well as this, he will continue to lead Fleet Solutions – a business of ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Control Systems division (former WABCO).

The proven industry expert is set to anticipate the future evolution and requirements of the sector, expand ZF Aftermarket’s broad portfolio and drive new advancements in customer-centric solutions.

He aims to support customers proactively through the unprecedented change of the automotive industry.

“The automotive future is smart with alternative drive concepts, connected vehicles and autonomous driving in addition to radically changing customer expectations”, describes Colpron about today’s challenges and confirms: “ZF Aftermarket wants to take this transformation as an opportunity to be strongly connected with our customers and further expand on a convincing combination of a broad product and solutions portfolio, a global service network and purposeful digital solutions, shaping the aftermarket for the Next Generation Mobility in a sustainable society.”

After different management roles at Valeo, Philippe Colpron started his career at former WABCO in 2007 as Strategic Sourcing Director. From 2010 onwards, he took over various top management positions in the aftermarket. As part of this, he implemented an agile global organisation with unique market proximity and evolved new digital solutions for connected ecosystems to drive Next Generation Mobility towards zero accidents, significant fuel savings and operational efficiency.

In 2018, Philippe Colpron was then appointed to the Global Fleet Solutions Hub leadership role, taking ownership of two of WABCO’s most dynamic businesses – Digital Customer Services, and the aftermarket - moulded into a single Fleet Solutions organisation.

Philippe Colpron’s predecessor, Helmut Ernst, will take on the transition role “Aftermarket Affairs” from 1 January 2021, representing ZF in selected aftermarket associations, leading strategic projects and supporting the on-boarding process of the new ZF Aftermarket head in 2021.

“Helmut Ernst defined and implemented the new ZF Aftermarket organisation after the TRW transaction. This successful integration and the subsequent development of our aftermarket activities is an essential basis for future growth. We thank him for always promoting change whenever necessary”, emphasises Dr. Holger Klein, Member of the ZF Board of Management, responsible for Asia Pacific & India, Car Chassis Technology and Aftermarket, adding “and he will now be instrumental in ensuring the seamless transfer of the management role.”

He continues:

“The automotive aftermarket is undergoing dramatic changes with evolving customer expectations, acceleration of technological innovations and shifts in competitive power. With Philippe Colpron we gain an experienced, internationally well-known leader, who has swiftly embraced these trends and lives ZF’s vision of safe and sustainable mobility, as well as our technology spearheading digitalisation. He will quickly evolve our aftermarket business for the Next Generation Mobility with ZF's strict customer centricity as his guiding principle.”

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