Eaton Corporation announced that Kenneth F Davis has been named president-Vehicle Group, succeeding Joseph P Palchak, who has decided to retire at the end of June 2011. Palchak will continue to report to Craig Arnold, vice-chairman and chief operating officer-Industrial Sector, and will assist with the transition until his retirement. Davis' current role as president-Americas for Eaton's Vehicle Group will not be filled.
Sam Martin, chief operating officer of SAF-Holland Group and president of the American subsidiary SAF-Holland Inc, will resign from his operating activities at the end of 2010. Jack Gisinger will succeed him as president of SAF-Holland Inc effective January 2, 2011. At the same time, Detlef Borghardt will become deputy chief executive officer of the entire group; the COO function will be dropped in the future. Gisinger will remain head of the Powered Vehicle Systems Business Unit and Borghardt head of the Trailer Systems Business Unit. Martin Kleinschmitt has resigned as the group's chief restructuring officer.
FuelQuest has added Tom Benwell as vice-president of sales and Casey Zandbergen as vice-president of strategic initiatives. Benwell previously was president and chief executive officer of Argus Advisory Group, a consulting firm specializing in executive development and sales team performance. Zandbergen was president and chief technology officer at World Telemetry.
Grote Industries has appointed Bill Fleming to lead its West coast sales team as aftermarket western regional manager. He has been with NAPA Auto & Truck Parts since 1990 serving in sales support, marketing development, business development of national accounts, heavy-duty business development, and product management.
Russ Lucas has been hired to fill the new position of severe-duty fleet manager for Webb Wheel Products Inc-Transit Business Unit. He previously worked for Telma SA for 15 years, most recently as manager of the national accounts department.
ACT Research Company LLC announces that Sam D Kahan has joined the company as senior economist. Kahan, who is also principal of Kahan Consulting Ltd, joined ACT after retiring from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit branch, where he had been senior economist for the past 11 years. He will replace Paul Traub, who moves from senior economist with ACT to business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit branch.