(2021.03.08)Bad Neustadt a.d. Saale. The Preh GmbH Supervisory Board has decided to fill the CEO position internally and appointed Zhengxin “Charlie” Cai (49) to lead the automotive supplier. He has been a member of the Preh management since 2011 and most recently was Chief Operating Officer (COO). Cai succeeds Dr. Stephan Weng(53),who left the company by mutual agreement in February 2021. In future, the Preh Group will be led by Charlie Cai as CEO, as well as Rui Marques Dias (CFO) and Jochen Ehrenberg (CTO).

Charlie Cai has been a member of the Preh management team since July 2011 and, prior to his appointment as COO had already been responsible for the purchasing and supply chain management departments, as well as heading the Commercial Vehicles HMI division. Before joining the Preh management team, Cai was Managing Director at Joyson, Preh’s parent company in Ningbo. The industrial and mechatronics engineer has gained a lot of experience during the last more than two decades in the automotive industry. He has previously worked as Sales Director at Gentex Electronics Technology Ltd, Co. in his home city of Shanghai. His career also includes his work as Plant Manager at Safety Components Inc, Changshu, and Operational Director at TRW in Ningbo.

On the announcement of the new CEO position, Jeff Wang, Chairman of the Preh Supervisory Board and majority shareholder of the Joyson Group, said: “Charlie Cai has the best qualifications to lead an international automotive group like Preh. He gained very well-grounded industry experience at home in China, but is now also deeply immersed in the European automotive business. In addition, I appreciate both his in-depth technical know-how and his broad operational management experience, which he has gained over the past ten years at Preh. He stands for both continuity and a new course, and is exactly the right man to further consolidate Preh’s market positioning in the dynamically changing industry environment.”

Charlie Cai studied engineering at the University of Shanghai and also has a master’s degree in Industry Engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University. In addition to his role at Preh, he is Vice President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany (CHKD). Cai is married with two children.