In addition to the Chief Executive Office (CEO), the Carcoustics management board consists of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief People Officer (CPO) and manages the business of the Carcoustics Group:
Kai Frühauf
CEO of Carcoustics
Kai Frühauf, born in 1962 in Langenhagen, holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering / Automotive Engineering, a degree in Business Administration (VWA) and a Master of Business Administration.
After joining Continental AG, he held various specialist and management positions within the company and was most recently responsible for the ContiTech Vibration Control business unit as General Manager/ Managing Director until 2019. From 2020-2021, Kai Frühauf was CEO of the Carcoustics Group and again holds this position since February 1, 2023. As Chief Executive Officer, he is Chairman of the Executive Board of Carcoustics International GmbH.
Cathrin Hirsch
CFO Carcoustics Group
Cathrin Hirsch has a Master in Business Administration from the University of Augsburg. She has 20 years of experience in various industries, thereof 10 years of Profit & Loss responsibilities in multinational companies. She has studied, lived and worked in USA, France and Netherlands, among others for thyssenkrupp and Röchling. She is especially experienced in reorganizations, driving financial transformation and continuous improvement as well as in change and risk management, business development, compliance and investor relations.
With her multinational leadership experience and international mindset, she is Chief Financial Officer of the Carcoustics Group since January 2023.
Chunhu Wang
CPO Carcoustics Group
Chunhu Wang is experienced in intercultural coaching and consulting for large companies and medium-sized businesses in the automotive industry, among others. He has extensive practical experience in communicative stakeholder and crisis management in an international business environment. In this context, he was responsible for the (co-)design and implementation of reorganization measures with regard to human resources and people & culture. As a business partner, he was also responsible for idea and concept development, action planning, implementation and follow-up of cross-country, cross-company and cross-cultural staff exchanges and team building.
Since March 2023, Chunhu Wang has been the Chief People Officer (CPO) of the Carcoustics Group.
Regional Directors
The locations in the Asia, Americas and Europe regions are managed by our Regional Directors who are also part of the Executive Management Board:
Karl M Kicker
Regional Director Europe
Mr. Karl M Kicker, born in 1974, holds a master's degree in social and economic sciences with a degree in economics.
Mr. Kicker has been in charge of the China region at Carcoustics from 2016-2022 and previously held various specialist and management positions in Europe and China.
He is part of the Executive Management Board of Carcoustics from 2021 and took over the position as Regional Director Europe in 2022.
Guodong (Jeff) Xu
Regional Director Americas
Guodong (Jeff) Xu holds a Master of Business Administration and has various experience in engineering and managing positions. Among others, he’s worked for DELPHI for almost ten years and has been in several VP and President positions in the automotive industry. He’s been CEO of the North Americas division of NingBo Huaxiang Automotive Electronics Co. Ltd until 2022 and, most recently, has been president of Dare Auto Co. North America.
From July 2023, Jeff is Regional Director of Carcoustics America and thereby Member of the Executive Management Board of the Carcoustics Group.
Yimin Zhu
Regional Director Asia
Yimin Zhu, born in 1981, holds a German master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Chinese master’s degree in Business Administration. Mr. Zhu has extensive experience in various technical and management positions in the automotive industry, most recently at Continental ContiTech. He joined Carcoustics as Director Innovation and Product Technology in 2021.
As of April 1st, 2022, Mr. Zhu took over the lead of the Region Asia in the Executive Management Board of Carcoustics Group.
Key Leadership Positions
Carcoustics' Executive Management Board also includes key leadership positions from Sales, Global Operations and Business Excellence:
Murilo Liberalquino
Vice President Global Sales
Murilo Liberalquino, born 1979, holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Paulista University (UNIP) in Brazil and attended a Leadership Executive Program at Queen’s University in Canada. He has over 25 years of experience in the automotive industry in various specialist and management positions, he has worked for companies like Magna International, Gates Corporation, Visteon, and most recently at Tenneco Inc., where he served as Director Sales Europe and member of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council. He has been Vice President Global Sales at Carcoustics from February 2021 and joined the Executive Management Board in February 2022.
Lars Johannsen
Vice President Business Excellence & Strategy
Lars Johannsen, born in 1987, studied industrial engineering at RWTH Aachen University and Tsinghua Beijing University, specializing in mechanical engineering. In his previous position at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen, he built up expertise in the organizational and technological development of companies.
Mr. Johannsen has had different positions at Carcoustics since 2018, including VP Business Development. Since 2022, he is as Vice President Business Excellence & Strategy member of the company’s Executive Management Board.
