GKN Automotive Announces Three Executive Team Appointments

London, UK, 11 July 2023 - GKN Automotive, the global leader in drive systems, announces three appointments to its Executive team following the demerger of GKN Automotive from Melrose PLC into Dowlais Group PLC.

Nic Zerbst joins GKN Automotive as Chief Operating Officer, a new role created when the company established two new functional arms – Operations and Engineering. Zerbst steps in for Markus Bannert who was interim COO. He brings over 28 years of experience in international, automotive and operational leadership roles, most recently at ZF Group where he was Senior Vice President of Operations in the Electronics and Advance Driver Assist System Division. Prior to that he was COO at MANN+HUMMEL Group. He holds an MBA from Nelson Mandela University and a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

Adam Ramsay joins as General Counsel, replacing John Nicholson who has moved to GKN Automotive’s parent company, Dowlais Group PLC, as General Counsel. Adam comes to the company with more than 25 years of in-house experience, most recently at Smiths Group PLC, a FTSE 100 UK-headquartered industrial technology company, where he was Deputy General Counsel of a large global legal team. He brings a track record in functional and business leadership in public and private equity backed businesses and extensive international experience in APAC and China where he was involved in multiple joint venture and other projects. Since qualifying as a UK Solicitor in 1995, Adam has held General Counsel and other senior roles in various sectors including defence, engineering, semiconductor, energy and oil & gas.

Andrea Arobio joins the company as Chief Strategy Officer, replacing James Pedder who has moved into the role of Chief Strategy Officer at Dowlais Group PLC. Andrea started his career at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now Stellantis, in Product Development and held different roles in strategic planning, programme management and procurement. He also worked in management consulting at Boston Consulting Group for more than four years in the Automotive and Industrial Goods practice, developing an expertise in global corporate strategy, strategic planning and large transformation projects. He holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi and an MSc in Energy and Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Torino.

Markus Bannert, CEO of GKN Automotive, comments: “I’m delighted to welcome Nic, Adam and Andrea to our Executive team, each bringing an impressive track record in helping businesses across a variety of sectors and markets grow and succeed. I look forward to working closely with our Executive team during such an exciting time for our business, as we focus on using our world-leading technology to drive electrification and making GKN Automotive a great place to work.”

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ABOUT GKN AUTOMOTIVE

GKN Automotive is a world-leading global automotive technology company at the forefront of innovation. Its origins date back to 1759 and for the last 70 years it has been putting key technologies into series production. It is the trusted partner for most of the world’s automotive companies, specialising in developing, building, and supplying market-leading drive systems and advanced ePowertrain technologies. It is the global leader in sideshafts, with eight out of ten of the world’s best-selling cars outside China using its sideshaft technology. GKN Automotive’s first eDrive system was fitted to a production car over 20 years ago; today, over two million electrified vehicles worldwide are powered by this technology.

For further information, please contact:

GKN Automotive
Corrie Raine
External Communications Manager
Email: corrie.raine@gknautomotive.com