KION North America Corporation under new leadership

Effective January 16, the current chief sales officer, Vincent Halma, will take over as president and CEO of KION North America Corporation.

He succeeds Brian Butler, who is leaving the KION Group at his own request in order to pursue new opportunities outside the company. Brian Butler became president of Linde North America Corporation in 2005.

“I would like to thank Brian Butler for his many years of successful work, which has been a considerable factor in helping us to lay these foundations in North America. In addition, Brian played a key role in the successful restructuring of the Linde Heavy Truck Division in Wales,” said Gordon Riske, CEO of the KION Group. “Establishing a much stronger presence for ourselves in the North American market is one of the key elements of our Strategy 2020. Vincent Halma can count on an excellent team as we strive to achieve our objective of evolving from a niche provider into a major market player.”

One of the world’s two largest suppliers of forklift trucks, warehouse technology and associated services, the KION Group recently reached a first significant milestone in North America when Linde North America Corporation was renamed KION North America Corporation officially at the beginning of this year. The KION Group operates a production plant in Summerville, SC, with an annual capacity of more than 10,000 trucks, and has a nationwide sales and service network with around 100 dealers.

Before moving to Summerville, Vincent Halma held the roles of managing director in the Netherlands and vice president of sales for Western Europe at STILL GmbH. Originally from the Netherlands, he also spent more than ten years in the United States working for a provider of cargo solutions.

Under the umbrella of KION North America, the brand companies Linde and STILL are to serve the requirements of the US, Canadian and Mexican markets. The company’s medium-term objectives include establishing a fleet management and finance system and possibly introducing an additional brand.