After nearly 20 years at the helm of automotive supplier Plastic Omnium (PO, Levallois / France; www.plasticomnium.com), Laurent Burelle will step down as CEO, remaining chairman of the advisory board going forward. As of 1 January 2020, automotive engineer Laurent Favre will oversee business operations as CEO and director – with the assistance of Burelle’s daughter Félicie Burelle as managing director.

Félicie Burelle was previously the head of strategy and development at the family-owned company, while Favre has held a number of CEO positions, primarily in the German automotive supply industry – from ZF Lenksysteme (now Robert Bosch Automotive Steering) and the former Thyssenkrupp Sofedit (now Gestamp Sofedit) to Benteler Automotive. It is likely that Favre was appointed because of this strong connection to Germany – after all, Plastic Omnium does good business with the German OEMs – while his French background will help him deal with the local unions.

Laurent Burelle’s longtime advisor Jean-Michel Szczerba – see Plasteurope.com of 23.12.2016 – will be joining him at his new position, which now includes keeping an eye on the multi-billion-euro supplier as head of the family holding Burelle. Paul-Henry Lemarié will be departing as Plastic Omnium’s COO at the same time. His position will apparently not be filled for the time being.