HORIBA has today appointed Ralph Lauxmann as the new President of HORIBA Europe GmbH with effect from May 1st, 2022. He succeeds Dr. Robert Plank, who will continue to work for the company in an advisory capacity as a Non-Executive Board Member but will only be available on a part-time basis in future due to family commitments. Lauxmann has already been on board at HORIBA since April 1st, 2022, and as the new president – like his predecessor most recently – is responsible for all segments at HORIBA Europe in order to further intensify the cooperation between the Automotive, Process & Environmental, Semiconductor and Scientific segments.
Ralph Lauxmann is an experienced manager whose heart beats for the automotive industry. The mechanical engineering graduate has held management positions at Bosch, Knorr-Bremse and most recently Continental. There he served as Senior Vice President Strategy and Future Solutions in the Autonomous Mobility and Safety business unit – a perfect combination of experience that Lauxmann can bring to the automotive transformation at HORIBA and drive it forward.
"I am pleased to be able to build on the initiatives and developments initiated by Dr. Robert Plank and thank him for his enormous commitment over the past years. My main task now will be not only to continue to drive the automotive transformation at HORIBA, but also to further strengthen the cross-segment technology transfer," explains Lauxmann and adds: "Here we can benefit from mutual synergies and different approaches, thus ensuring HORIBA's support for sustainable and safe mobility of the future."
Dr Robert Plank initially took over as Managing Director Automotive at HORIBA Europe on November 1st, 2017, and has served as the first European President for HORIBA Europe since January 1st, 2021. In both of his roles, Dr Plank has decisively shaped and advanced the company. With the acquisitions of FuelCon 2018 – test systems for batteries, fuel cells and electrolysers – and BeXema 2021 – power electronics for battery, fuel cell and electrolysis applications – as well as the construction of the new factory in Magdeburg-Barleben (eHUB), he ensured expansion in the areas of e-mobility and new energy on the one hand. On the other hand, with the acquisition of Tocadero 2019 – water analytics – and the expansion of the Leichlingen factory, he pushed expansion in the Process & Environmental segment.
“I look back on an intensive and eventful time at HORIBA and am very proud of our team and what we have initiated and promoted together in the past four and a half years. I am extremely grateful to have been able to initiate the transformation at HORIBA Europe," Dr Plank sums up and adds: "I am all the more pleased that I can now pass on the office to Ralph Lauxmann, an extremely experienced automotive manager, and will be very happy to support him in an advisory capacity in the future as the transformation continues."
