Lithium-Ion Battery Maker Names New President
September 10 2009 - 7:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
EXPANDED MANAGEMENT TEAM ADDS NEW STRENGTH IN PRODUCT INDIANAPOLIS,
Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEV)
Advanced lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel, Inc. today named
Richard L. Stanley as company President. Stanley is a proven leader
with 30 years' global manufacturing and management experience and a
distinguished record of creating new business lines. The move is
one of three new executive appointments designed to position
EnerDel for continued success in the next phases of its commercial
evolution. The announcements come as automakers worldwide expand
their commitment to hybrid and electric drive technologies and new
market opportunities emerge in utility grid energy storage. "Rick
is an outstanding team leader who has built his resume through
building businesses in both economically challenging times and fast
growth cycles," said Charles Gassenheimer, CEO of EnerDel parent
company Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEV). "He has proven that he can
consistently deliver growth and profitability under even the
toughest conditions. His extraordinary combination of skills,
relationships and experience will drive EnerDel's major
customer-focused manufacturing programs in a lean, low-cost
environment as we transition to full-scale commercial production."
As President of Remy, Inc., the largest division of Remy
International (formerly Delco Remy International), Stanley achieved
a 58-percent increase in revenue, from $500 million to nearly $800
million, through a combination of organic growth, new customer
development and corporate acquisitions from 1998 to 2006, a period
when the industry as a whole was facing stiff pressures. He also
led the company's entry into new and emerging markets, including a
range of technologies for hybrid vehicles, and diversified the
customer base by winning new business from Audi, Daimler-Chrysler,
Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Kohler, Nissan and Volkswagen. Earlier Stanley
was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Systems
at Remy International, managing a $250 million business unit with
1,500 employees while increasing pre-tax operating margins (EBIT)
five-fold. That followed a 16-year rise through a series of
increasingly senior engineering and management positions with GM's
Delco Remy Division, culminating as Director of Customer Programs,
where he was responsible for $1.2 billion in yearly sales. Stanley
spent the past two years as President of the ATC Drivetrain arm of
ATC Technology Corporation, where customers included Allison, Aston
Martin, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Isuzu, Jaguar, Land Rover,
Mitsubishi, Opel, Peugeot, Saab and Subaru. Stanley holds a B.S. in
Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and
an M.S. in Manufacturing Management from Kettering University.
"EnerDel is one of a handful of companies playing a fundamental
role in transforming the basic technology of automotive
transportation," Stanley said. "As carmakers race to meet new fuel
economy standards, electric drivetrain suppliers are going to be
scaling up their operations dramatically while maintaining the
quality and costs that those customers demand. We're also seeing
significant new opportunities emerging on the electric utility
grid. I can't think of a more exciting place to be right now."
EnerDel's two factories in Indianapolis are the first -- and so far
only -- commercial-scale automotive lithium-ion battery
manufacturing facilities in the United States. The company was
recently awarded a $118.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of
Energy under the federal stimulus program, and is awaiting approval
of additional long-term, low-interest loan funds under the agency's
Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. The company has
announced active supply relationships with Think Global, Fisker and
Volvo, and a research partnership with Nissan. Ulrik Grape, who as
CEO successfully led EnerDel through a ground-breaking expansion
including massive capital investment, winning its first customer
contracts, and installation of a state-of-the-art mass production
line, has now been appointed President of Ener1 Europe. The
division is being created to meet growing demand for electric drive
and battery technology among the continent's top automakers as well
as other business opportunities involving energy storage
applications. There, Grape is expected to draw heavily on his
experience launching several new start-ups in his career. "European
automakers are really setting the pace in terms of electric and
plug-in hybrid vehicle development and the build-out of utility
grid infrastructure needed to maximize their operating advantages,"
Grape said. "We are always going to be an American company. But
many of our core customer relationships are in Europe, and it now
becomes crucial to establish ourselves with a commanding presence
in a market where we expect to aggressively build out our business.
We're also looking ahead to a time when business growth makes it
sensible to extend custom-tailored pack assembly capacity closer to
where customers need it." EnerDel also announced today that Robert
(Bob) Lawson, who oversaw Delco Remy's expansive customer
relationships with global OEMs and has managed automotive
manufacturing operations around the world, will become Vice
President of Business Development for North America for EnerDel,
focused on the vehicle applications side of the business. Lawson
was a founding member of the executive team that acquired Delco
Remy from GM in 1994 and helped pioneer the start up and financial
turnaround of the new company. He has 17 years experience as the
senior executive negotiator with major OEMs. As Senior Vice
President Global OE Operations at Remy, he was responsible for
manufacturing operations in the U.S., China, Korea, Poland, Brazil,
Mexico. Before that, Lawson lead sales and marketing strategies for
Remy's automotive and heavy duty OE divisions, generating yearly
revenue of $800 million. During that time he won key contracts for
a next-generation hybrid drive system competing with Toyota. From
2002 to 2006 he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of
the automotive division, responsible for a $400 million global
P&L. "Some companies have tried to build their battery business
from the outside in. But at the end of the day this is still an
automotive venture that requires strong experience in the industry
and a thorough understanding of the customer's technical needs,"
Lawson said. "That's where EnerDel's deep roots in this industry
and solid grounding in Indiana's proud automotive heritage will
give us an important competitive advantage." Lawson began his
career with GM's former Delco Remy Division in 1973, and retired
from Remy International in 2007. For the past two years he has had
a successful independent automotive consulting business. A native
of Anderson, Indiana, Lawson attended Purdue University where he
received a MS from the College of Technology and a BS for the
Krannert School of Management. About Ener1, Inc. Ener1 develops and
manufactures compact, high performance lithium-ion batteries to
power the next generation of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure
electric vehicles. The publicly traded company (NASDAQ:HEV) is led
by an experienced team of engineers and energy system experts at
its EnerDel subsidiary located in Indiana. In addition to the
automobile market, applications for Ener1 lithium-ion battery
technology include the military, grid storage and other growing
markets. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products through
its EnerFuel subsidiary and nanotechnology-based materials and
manufacturing processes for batteries and other applications
through its NanoEner subsidiary. Safe Harbor Statement Certain
statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking
statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates,
projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "plans," "believes," "scheduled," "estimates" and
variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict.
Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially
from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a
variety of factors. All forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date of this press release and the company does not undertake
any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to
forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or
changes in expectations after the date of this press release.
CONTACTS: INVESTOR RELATIONS: MEDIA RELATIONS: Rachel Carroll Jon
Coifman VP Corporate Communications Waggener Edstrom Worldwide P:
212 920-3500 P: 212 551-4815 E: E: DATASOURCE: Ener1, Inc. CONTACT:
Investor Relations, Rachel Carroll, VP Corporate Communications of
Ener1, Inc., +1-212-920-3500, ; or Media, Jon Coifman of Waggener
Edstrom Worldwide, +1-212-551-4815, Web Site: http://www.ener1.com/
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