Accuride Corp. announced that John R. Murphy tendered his resignation as president and chief executive officer, and as a director of Accuride. Upon acceptance of Murphy’s resignation, Accuride’s Board of Directors appointed William (Bill) M. Lasky as interim president and chief executive officer.
Lasky has been an independent director of Accuride since October 2007 and will continue to serve as a director during his employment as interim president and chief executive officer.
“Given Bill’s experience from his previous executive assignments at JLG, Dana and Stoneridge, in conjunction with his work as an Accuride board member, we are confident that he will drive initiatives to improve Accuride’s financial performance while maintaining uninterrupted customer service,” said Terrence J. Keating, chairman of the board of Accuride.
Lasky commented, “I appreciate the confidence of the other board members in my abilities. Working with all of Accuride’s employees, I plan to have an immediate impact on the company’s direction, and will work with the board to bring permanent leadership to the company to continue these efforts.”
Today, Accuride also announced a series of strategic restructuring initiatives to reduce expenses, increase competitiveness, strengthen customer relationships and enhance shareholder value.
As a result of the restructuring initiatives, Accuride will eliminate a total of 392 positions, or 11 percent, of its total workforce: 159 salaried positions, or 18 percent of current level and 233 hourly employees, or nine percent of current level.
Accuride confirmed its commitment to the aftermarket today by announcing the creation of a dedicated Aftermarket Division to strengthen its services and offerings to its customer base.
In conjunction with this announcement, Accuride named Tony Pape vice president and general manager of its Aftermarket Division, creating senior executive level focus and accountability for this important market segment. In addition, Phil Stolz was named vice president, Truck OE Sales and Corporate Marketing.
“We look to Tony and Phil to take a dynamic approach in significantly strengthening our customer relationships by servicing both the aftermarket and OE service in a centralized fashion,” said Rick Schomer, Accuride’s senior vice president, sales and marketing. “To support these initiatives, we will be consolidating our existing warehouses to reduce freight and product handling costs and significantly improve our customer service offering for full mixed product truckloads to our aftermarket customers.”
Lasky concluded, “The depth of initiatives announced today will result in a leaner organization that is better positioned to deliver increased value to our shareholders while improving our competitiveness and customer service. These actions will better position us to be a more agile competitor in the years ahead.”
