Schaeffler AG appointed industry veteran Klaus Deller as its CEO. The hire comes as the German-based company works to strengthen cooperation with car-component producer Continental Ag.
Deller currently services as the head of commercial-vehicle braking systems at Knorr-Bremse AG. Effective July 1, he will serve as CEO of Schaeffler.
Deller succeeds Klaus Rosenfeld, who temporarily took on CEO responsibilities in addition to his chief financial officer post in October after the founding family ousted Juergen Geissinger from the top job.
Schaeffler is jointly ownedby Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler and her son Georg Schaeffler. The company is still attempting to reduce debt from an attempt spearheaded by Geissinger to buy a limited stake in Continental that backfired amid the global recession of 2008.
Currently Schaeffler is the largest shareholder in Continental with a 46% stake in the company.