Caterpillar Inc. Announces Changes and Appointments for Vice Presidents

PEORIA, Ill., Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the previous announcement regarding two group presidents' retirements and new responsibilities for another group president, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced related changes at the vice president level, including the retirement of Vice President Steve Gosselin.

Steve Gosselin Retirement
After more than 35 years of outstanding service with the company, Steve Gosselin, 56, vice president with responsibility for the Customer Services Support Division, has elected to retire. Gosselin's retirement will be effective February 1, 2015.

"Much of Steve's career has been spent in marketing and product support roles, and in his most recent position, he has provided critical leadership in strengthening and aggressively growing Caterpillar's aftermarket parts and product support business, and led efforts to strengthen and enhance the Caterpillar and Cat brands globally," said Stu Levenick, current Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Customer & Dealer Support.

Since joining Caterpillar in 1979 as a parts and service sales trainee, Gosselin has held numerous positions in product support, machine and engine businesses. In 1994, he was named area manager, based in London, responsible for the machinery business in the Northwest quadrant of Europe.

From 1998 to 2000, Gosselin served as the North American distribution manager for the Engine Products Division. He was named regional manager for the North American Commercial Division (NACD) in 2000. In 2002, he was named vice president with responsibility for NACD with accountability for the company's North American dealer development and machine marketing. From 2006 to 2010, he served as president of Solar Turbines Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. In June 2010, he assumed his current position within Caterpillar Customer and Dealer Support.

Gosselin graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in finance and also completed the Northwestern University Kellogg Advanced Executive Program. He is a director on the Association of Equipment Manufacturers CE (Construction Equipment) Sector Board, chairs the Advisory Board of Eastern Illinois University's School of Business and serves on the Board of Directors for the Heart of Illinois United Way.

George Taylor Appointed as Vice President
Caterpillar's Board of Directors has appointed George Taylor, 53, currently general manager for Caterpillar's Global On-Highway Truck group, to replace Gosselin. Taylor's appointment is effective January 1, 2015.

"Over the last several years as the leader of our Global On-Highway Truck group, George has continually demonstrated a willingness to use innovative solutions and approaches to tackle complex and challenging issues, always with a focus on the customer," Levenick said. "He brings nearly 17 years of management experience from a wide range of positions within Caterpillar, and another 14 years of outside leadership experience with IBM, to this role."  

Taylor, a native of Morton, Illinois, joined Caterpillar in 1998 as a manager in the Strategic Business Planning group. He was then a district manager for the Power Systems Marketing Division and a district manager for the North American Commercial Division. In 2003, Taylor moved to Singapore as a marketing manager for the Asia Pacific Marketing Division. He has been in his current role, leading the Global On-Highway Truck group, since 2006.

Taylor has a bachelor's degree in Applied Computer Science from Illinois State University and an MBA from the University of Illinois. Taylor serves on the finance committee for the Peoria Housing Authority and is a member of the facilities committee for the Salvation Army, Heartland Division.

New Responsibilities for Pablo Koziner
Following the previous announcement that Tom Pellette, currently a Caterpillar vice president and the president of Solar Turbines, will assume new responsibilities as group president for Construction Industries, Caterpillar's Board of Directors has named Pablo Koziner, 41, currently vice president with responsibility for the Americas Distribution Services Division, as a Caterpillar vice president and the president of Solar Turbines. His new appointment is effective January 1, 2015.

"In his current role, Pablo has been driving several initiatives to improve the way Caterpillar and its dealers in North and South America work with and support our customers," said Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Energy & Transportation. "Pablo's leadership skills and customer focus will serve him well in his new role leading Solar Turbines, a leading global supplier of gas turbine systems and services." 

Koziner, who grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, joined Caterpillar's Legal Services Division in 2001 as an attorney within the organization's Latin American Commercial Division, based in Miami, Florida. In 2005, he assumed the position of Power Systems regional manager in Monterey, Mexico, with responsibility for Caterpillar's Electric Power, Petroleum, Marine and Industrial engine businesses. In May 2008, Koziner was named district manager for Caterpillar's Latin America Commercial Division, based in Santiago, Chile. In 2011, he was promoted to the position of east region manager in the Americas Distribution Services Division, based in Peoria, Illinois. In October 2013, the Board of Directors named Koziner vice president with responsibility for Americas Distribution Services Division.

Koziner graduated from Boston College in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in political science, and holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Boston College Law School.

Phil Kelliher Appointed as Vice President
Caterpillar's Board of Directors has appointed Phil Kelliher, 42, to replace Koziner as vice president with responsibility for the Americas Distribution Services Division. Kelliher's appointment is effective January 1, 2015.

"During his 20-year career with Caterpillar, Phil has demonstrated a strong customer focus and works tirelessly to win the trust and confidence of our customers," said Levenick. "With extensive marketing and product sales support experience in Australia, South America and North America, as well as a senior leadership role as a product manager, Phil is well-positioned to lead our distribution organization for the Americas."

Kelliher, a native of Melbourne, Australia, joined Caterpillar in 1994 as a product specialist based in Melbourne. Over the next several years, he held a number of commercial and marketing roles with increasing responsibilities in Australia. In 2005, he was promoted to a district manager based in Santiago, Chile. In 2009, Kelliher moved to Miami, Florida, as an industry region manager. He has been a product manager in the Mining Products Division since 2013.   

Kelliher graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering.

Bob De Lange Appointed as Vice President
Following the previous announcement that Rob Charter, currently a Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Excavation Division, will assume new responsibilities as group president with responsibility for Customer & Dealer Support, Caterpillar's Board of Directors has appointed Bob De Lange, 44, to replace Charter in Singapore. De Lange's appointment is effective January 1, 2015.

"With previous leadership positions in marketing, distribution and as a product manager, Bob brings an ideal blend of experience to this role," said Ed Rapp, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Construction Industries. "In addition, Bob has consistently demonstrated a strong values-based leadership style and has an intense focus on understanding customer economics and driving it into our product development programs."

De Lange, a native of Antwerp, Belgium, joined Caterpillar in 1993 in a marketing role based in Gosselies, Belgium. Over the next several years, he held a series of marketing roles with increasing responsibilities in Germany, the U.K., Denmark and the U.S. In 2006, he was named area district and distribution manager, based in Rome, Italy. In 2010, he became a product manager for the Earthmoving Division based in Geneva Switzerland, and in 2013 he was named a worldwide product manager for the Earthmoving Division based in Aurora, Illinois.

De Lange graduated from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, with a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1992. He then earned an MBA in 1993 from the EDHEC University in Lille, France.

About Caterpillar:
For nearly 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2013 sales and revenues of $55.656 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three product segments - Resource Industries, Construction Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and regulation; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxvi) compliance requirements imposed if additional carbon emissions legislation and/or regulations are adopted; (xxvii) changes in accounting standards; (xxviii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxix) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxx) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 18, 2014, for the year ended December 31, 2013, and in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 1, 2014, for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.