Berend Bracht Picked to Succeed Joe McAleese as Bendix CEO
Berend Bracht has been appointed to replace Joe McAleese as CEO of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, the Elyria, Ohio-based manufacturer of safety and braking systems for commercial vehicles.
Bracht will join Bendix on July 1 and also be a member of the board. McAleese will “step fully into his role as Bendix chairman, a role he has held since 2014,” the company's May 7 announcement said.
“Bracht comes to Bendix after an accomplished 24-year career at Bosch Rexroth, an international leader in drive and control technology headquartered in Germany,” Bendix said in the announcement.
Currently, Bracht is CEO of Bosch Rexroth Americas, a post he has held since 2007 and from which “he led the company to $1.4 billion in annual sales, oversaw the acquisition of a hydraulic distribution company in Chile and drove a substantial and sustained increase in sales volume within the Americas sector of the global Bosch Rexroth organization,” Bendix said.
With Bracht onboard, Bendix said, the company “will transition from a two-person executive board — the company’s current corporate governance structure — to a three-person board.”
Bracht will join McAleese and the other current member, Chief Operating Officer Carlos Hungria, Bendix said.
Bendix has been a member of the Munich, Germany-based Knorr-Bremse Group since 2002. Knorr-Bremse is a worldwide supplier of pneumatic braking and related safety systems for commercial vehicle and railroad applications.
