Oberursel, Germany -- HORIBA has appointed Dr. Robert Plank as the new President of HORIBA Europe GmbH with effect from January 1^st, 2021. Previously leading the group's European automotive segment, Dr. Plank will in his new role also assume responsibility for the Process & Environmental, Scientific and Semiconductor segments.

With this new appointment, HORIBA is continuing to drive the cooperation between the business segments forward to provide its customers with even better support in the form of integrated solutions. Dr. Plank succeeds Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura, who will take up a leadership role in the Japanese parent company after leading HORIBA Europe as president for the last five years.

"In appointing Dr. Plank as the new President of HORIBA Europe GmbH, we made a conscious decision to fill the position regionally. We are convinced that Dr. Plank, based on his outstanding performance managing the Automotive segment over the years, is the perfect choice to further strengthen our customer relationships in Europe and promote cooperation between the different business segments," explains Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura, former President of HORIBA Europe GmbH.

As Managing Director of the Group's European Automotive segment, Dr. Plank has decisively driven forward its realignment in recent years. With the acquisition and site expansion of FuelCon, a leading manufacturer of battery and fuel cell test systems, and the developments in the field of autonomous mobility, he strengthened the company’s competitiveness regarding fundamental changes in the automotive industry.

"I feel very honored in my new role as President of HORIBA Europe GmbH and look forward to the challenges ahead. The cooperation between our different business segments creates synergies that enables us to deepen the support to our customers and let them benefit of the shared knowhow within HORIBA. I will do my utmost to further expand this cooperation and thus advance our market position as a solution provider," explains Dr. Robert Plank, new President of HORIBA Europe GmbH.

Many of HORIBA's new solutions already integrate technologies developed in the company's various segments. For instance, the group's newly developed LIDAR test system combines expertise from the Automotive segment, optical elements from the Scientific segment and electronics from the Process & Environmental segment and can be applied in various road and rail applications.

Another example is HORIBA's brake dust solution which combines brake dynamometer test equipment with particle analysis expertise from the segments Automotive, Scientific and Process & Environmental.