New Leadership Appointed at Siemens Diesel Systems Technology

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens Diesel Systems Technologies (SDST) LLC, a joint venture formed in 1999 by Siemens and International Truck and Engine Corp., has appointed Dr. Stefan Demmerle as president and chief executive officer (CEO) and Houman Kashanipour as chief operating officer (COO) of the joint organization's Blythewood, S.C. operations. Dr. Demmerle replaces Uwe Wetzel, who has left the company to pursue other career opportunities and Kashanipour replaces Sergio Sgarbi, who has taken the plant manager position at International's Indianapolis Engine Plant.

As SDST's CEO upon his pending transfer to the United States, Dr. Demmerle will be responsible for guiding the day-to-day operations of the joint-venture manufacturing facility in Blythewood. In the interim, Siemens VDO Vice President of Diesel Systems North America and SDST Board Member Julian Dench will serve as acting CEO.

Before accepting his new role with SDST, Dr. Demmerle was director for the Diesel Electronics Subdivision (DS) within Siemens VDO's Electronics and Drivetrain (ED) Division for four years, responsible for the global ED DS operations. Based at the company's Toulouse, France location, he also was in charge of the local operations of the ED division. Prior to that, he held several product and sales management positions with ED in Toulouse.

Dr. Demmerle earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University in Munich and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France. He currently resides in Toulouse, France, but will be moving to the greater Colombia, S.C. area with his family later this year.

As SDST's COO effective Nov. 1, 2005, Kashanipour will be responsible for machining, assembly and testing, quality, product engineering and prototypes for diesel fuel injectors for International engines. Before accepting his role with SDST, he held positions of increasing responsibility within the Engine Group's Manufacturing Engineering and Operations organization over the past decade.

Kashanipour earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. in 1995 and is in the process of earning an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University in Indianapolis. He currently resides in Indianapolis, but will be moving to the greater Colombia area with his family later this year.

Siemens VDO is an internationally leading automotive supplier of electronics and mechatronics with applications covering gasoline and diesel powertrain technologies, safety and chassis systems, body electronics, plus interior products including infotainment systems. Worldwide sales reflecting fiscal year 2003/2004 totaled $11.6 billion (euro 9.0 billion). For more information: http://www.usa.siemensvdo.com/ .

Siemens AG is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $91.5 billion in fiscal 2004. Founded more than 155 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power, Automation and Control, Transportation, Information and Communications, Lighting, Building Technologies, Water Technologies and Services and Home Appliances.

With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in the USA has sales of $16.6 billion and employs 70,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Thirteen of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 440,000 people in 190 countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States: http://www.usa.siemens.com/ .

International Truck and Engine Corporation is the operating company of Navistar International Corporation . The company produces International(R) brand commercial trucks, mid-range diesel engines and IC brand school buses and is a private label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van and SUV markets. A wholly owned subsidiary offers financing services. Additional information is available at http://www.internationaldelivers.com/