Personnel change in the Automotive Aftermarket Martin Klein new Sales Manager for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa

2021-06-30 | Langen

• New position should strengthen the leading position of the Automotive Aftermarket division in the long term
• Martin Klein is also responsible for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Benelux countries
• Focus on customer orientation and more efficient sales structures

Martin Klein is heading Schaeffler's Automotive Aftermarket Sales in Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The 56-year-old business economist has assumed the newly created position effective as of April 1, 2021 and is responsible for a total of 44 countries. In addition, Martin Klein is also responsible for the Western Europe region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries), which was most recently headed by Stefan Knaack. Already last year, Stefan Knaack has taken over the responsibility of the Key Account Office as Vice President Global Key Account Management Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket.

"The structure of the automotive aftermarket will change over the next five to ten years. The aftermarket ecosystem is evolving rapidly. It is therefore even more important for us to position ourselves in a future-oriented way in order to secure our leading position in the aftermarket," says Michael Soeding, CEO Automotive Aftermarket at Schaeffler. "With Martin Klein, we have gained an internationally experienced and customer-oriented sales manager who will lead our business in Central Europe, Middle East and Africa in an even more focused and efficient way," adds Sascha Lechner, President Automotive Aftermarket EMEA.

The focus of Klein's business activities will be on sustainable and stable further development of sales activities that are even more closely aligned with customer requirements and needs. "Our goal is to provide our customers with the best support possible when facing upcoming challenges such as technological change and digitization. Therefore, we are intensifying our collaboration with our customers to understand their respective requirements and needs even better and to derive tailored solutions," says Martin Klein.

Klein has more than 25 years of international sales and management experience. Most recently, he worked for 17 years as Managing Director and "Executive Vice President" for the Euro-Russia business units at MOTUL Deutschland GmbH, a premium manufacturer of lubricants for automotive and industrial applications. In his new role, he reports directly to Sascha Lechner, President Automotive Aftermarket EMEA.