GDX gets new management team

From Rubber & Plastics News

Farmington Hills, Michigan-The new owners of GDX Automotive have appointed a new management team for the vehicle sealing systems producer, headed by veteran automotive supplier executive Morris Rowlett as chairman and CEO.

Rowlett, 53, comes to GDX with more than 20 years' experience in automotive and manufacturing management, according to New York-based Cerberus Capital Management L.P., which paid $147 million to buy GDX from GenCorp Inc.

Rowlett has served as chairman and/or CEO of four automotive industry suppliers during the past nine years, including Pilot Industries Inc., Ganton Technologies Inc. and Ryobi Die Casting USA. Most recently he has been chairman Guilford Mills Inc., a manufacturer of automotive body cloth and headliner fabric. He will continue to hold that position, Cerberus said.

Rowlett is joined at GDX by Robert Eckert, 54, executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer and Mark Krupp, 53, executive vice president for global operations, both of whom are executive vice presidents at Guilford Mills, where they will continue as advisers in finance and operations. They previously participated with Rowlett in managing Pilot Industries, Ganton Industries and Diversified Diemakers.

GDX also has promoted Dave Prater to vice president for global engineering and Brent Fischmann to vice president for global sales and marketing.