ACC welcome 5 new members to its top management team for 2022.
We announce the addition of 3 new members to ACC’s Executive Committee, and 2 new members to ACC’s top management.
Erhard Schletterer is joining the EXCOM as Vice President of Industrial strategy, Industrial Partnerships, and Industrial Projects Management; Peter Bleyhl as Quality and Product Safety Vice President, and Yann Laot will be replacing Francisco Carranza as Vice President of Strategy, Sales & Marketing.
Peter Winternheimer is joining the top management of ACC as Kaiserslautern Project Vice President and Benoit Torres as Termoli Project Vice President.
Erhard, Peter, Yann, Peter and Benoit are bringing their unique talents, expertise and perspectives to the work of the organization in order to further our vision of a sustainable mobility accessible to all.
For ACC, 2022 has been marked by several milestones: the start of the construction of our gigafactory in Douvrin Billy-Berclau, Nersac’s Pilot Line inauguration, and start of production, Mercedes Benz’s entry to the capital, and the announcement of a third Gigafactory in Termoli. These additions to our management reflect these changes.
They will reinforce us and bring added experience and knowledge that will play an important role in strengthening ACC’s capability and resilience.
Yann Vincent said:
I am delighted with the calibre of our new EXCOM members and Top Managers.
“Together they bring a wealth of Industrial knowledge and experience, and a real commitment to quality and low carbon economy. The addition of 2 Executive Committee members from Mercedes – Erhard Schletterer and Peter Bleyhl – is fostering our partnership, ensuring that we are moving forward hand in hand with our shareholders.”
“Yann Laot’s technical background, and extensive product knowledge are major assets. As for Peter Winternheimer and Benoit Torres, they are bringing invaluable experience of battery and automotive manufacturing, acquired in Stellantis.”
“I am confident that these new additions to our team will help us step up our game, setting our ambitions and goals at the highest level so as to make the most difference, on behalf of current and future generations.”
Their biographies will help you understand why:
Erhard Schletterer – Industrial strategy VP
Erhard Schletterer, is a pure product of Mercedes-Benz, where he spent 32 years of his career, in varied roles in Germany and USA.
The majority of his background is in powertrain production (engines, transmissions and components) but Erhard has been heavily involved in e-Mobility since 2008. Indeed, he was responsible for the manufacturing engineering and production of Fuel Cells, E-Motors and Electric Drivetrains, Battery Cells as well as Battery Modules and Packs.
From 2010 to 2013 he took the direction of Li-Tec, a joint venture between Evonik Industries and Mercedes-Benz aimed at developing and producing Battery Cells in Kamenz near Dresden, Germany. In 2017, he became managing director of ACCUMOTIVE GmbH, also in Kamenz, where he was responsible for Battery Modules and Pack production.
More recently, as Chief Engineer and Manufacturing Engineer, Erhard was tasked with the setup of Mercedes-Benz’s worldwide battery production network, including the creation of facilities in the USA, Germany, Poland, China, Thailand and Finland.
Erhard was involved in the acquisition of the Mercedes-Benz’s shares of ACC, so in this this context, joining ACC was like coming back to his roots.
Erhard Schletterer has joined ACC on June 1st as Vice President of Industrial strategy, Industrial Partnerships, and Industrial Projects Management.
Peter Bleyhl – Quality and Product Safety VP
Peter is another great addition to our team from Mercedes-Benz. He spent 27 years with them, in various functions in Germany, USA, South Africa, and China.
Peter is German. He studied electrotechnics and industrial engineering at the university of Karlsruhe in Germany and spent one year in France at INPG in Grenoble which helped him become fluent in French. (Which helps!).
Peter started at Mercedes-Benz as a management trainee back in 1995. He then managed projects in purchasing in Stuttgart, Logistics in Tuscaloosa, USA and Sales in Bienne, Switzerland.
After various functions in procurement in Stuttgart and Sindelfingen he became head of procurement in South Africa from 2005 to 2008. Back home in Germany, he took responsibility for the supplier quality of the plant of Sindelfingen for all production material including HV-batteries from JCS in Nersac.
From 2012 until 2016, he became Vice President Quality Management in the BBAC joint venture in Beijing, China. In this time, he built up the QM-organization to support and manage all newly built plants at the site in Beijing.
Meanwhile in Germany in 2016, he took over the worldwide Quality organization for all powertrain plants at MBAG. From 2019 to date, he has been leading the worldwide Supply Chain Management for all the compact cars’ plants in Europe and Mexico.
Keeping the supply chains running despite Covid, a semiconductor shortage and the war in Ukraine was not an easy task but Peter and his team managed to keep things running smoothly.
Peter joined ACC on June 1st as Vice President Quality Management and Product Safety.
Yann Laot – Strategy, Sales & Marketing VP
Yann Laot is coming to us from TotalEnergies, with whom he has been for the past 12 years, including the last 5 years at Saft (after its acquisition by TotalEnergies in 2016).
Yann has a dual background, in chemistry (M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from the Ecole Polytechnique (France)) and in business/strategy.
He has worked since the beginning of his career in the battery and energy world, first at AirLiquide as a Technology Foresight Analyst on lithium-ion batteries and then at the Boston Consulting Group as a senior associate for the energy sector.
In 2011, Yann joined Total New Energies, the renewable arm of TotalEnergies, as Strategy Manager on stationary energy storage (batteries and lithium-ion in particular).
In 2017, he joined Saft to become Strategic Marketing Manager on Stationary Energy Storage (ESS) for renewables & power grids and for Electric Mobility / Electric Vehicle (xEV) (focusing on lithium-ion technology & industry).
He especially worked on the premises of ACC’s project, such as the early negotiations with European OEMs and with the European Union that led to the IPCEI fundings. In 2018 he became Director of Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) Services & Solutions, then Technical Director for the Solid State Battery program.
His last assignment was Asset Manager, in charge of TotalEnergies-Saft’s investment in ACC and he negotiated with Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis teams the entry of Mercedes-Benz to ACC’s equity.
Yann will be joining us on August 1st as Vice President of Strategy, Sales & Marketing.
Peter Winternheimer – Kaiserslautern Project VP
Peter was born in Mainz in Germany and will be in charge of building, launching and operating the ACC Kaiserslautern Gigafactory together with his future team.
Peter was born and bred in the automotive industry. An industry in which he worked for 27 years, primarily in German Production Plants for Opel and for Stellantis.
Many more responsibilities came his way in the Quality Department before he took greater operational responsibilities in Manufacturing and Plant Management: Plant Manager, Director of PME Flow, Facilities & Automation Engineering, Vice President of Vehicle Process Engineering Flow, Automation, Infrastructure & Quality.
He supported the Stellantis PSA & FCA Merger in a corporate function in Vehicle Process Engineering.
Peter was involved in the very first discussions about locating a Gigafactory in Kaiserslautern a few years ago, even before ACC was born. Indeed, he knows the area very well, as he was Opel’s Kaiserslautern’s Plant manager from 2014 to 2019.
His dream to actively accompany the change of our industry towards sustainable mobility became true with the leading role in the construction of the Kaiserslautern Gigafactory for ACC.
Peter has joined us on July 1st as Kaiserslautern Project VP.
Benoit Torres – Termoli Project VP
Benoit is another man who’s been made at Stellantis. His career in the group started in 1995, where he was hired upon graduating.
He has held many positions in the Powertrain and Chassis business, from product design to manufacturing engineering and materials, in France and in China, all the way to the Powertrain and Chassis Manufacturing VP role which he held until March 2022.
During the COVID crisis, the opportunity to work on the respirator project supported by the French government arose. In close collaboration with Air Liquide, Schneider Electric and Valeo, 10,000 respirators were manufactured in 70 days.
During the last past year, Benoit took over the Battery Cells Manufacturing VP role at Stellantis which allowed him to acquire skills in the field. In the meantime, he was on a mission to imbue this field with the automotive ‘touch’: mass production, quality and industrial and economic performance.
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Furthering our vision: ACC welcome 5 new members to its top management team for 2022., July 4, 2022
