Caterpillar Inc. last week announced that group presidents Rich Lavin and Gerard Vittecoq have elected to retire. Lavin is a Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Construction Industries & Growth Markets. Vittecoq is a group president with responsibility for Energy & Power Systems. The company said that Caterpillar’s board of directors has appointed current group president and chief financial officer Ed Rapp as Lavin’s replacement. Brad Halverson will replace Rapp as a group president and chief financial officer and Jim Umpleby has been appointed to replace Vittecoq as group president for Energy & Power Systems.
“We will be saying goodbye to fantastic leaders with these retirements, but we have a deep and talented group of Caterpillar executives,” said Caterpillar chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. “I am confident our new leaders will build on the work of their predecessors as we move toward our 2015 goals and beyond.”
Rapp will take over as group president with responsibility for Construction Industries, replacing Lavin. As part of this transition, the Hong Kong-based headquarters office for Caterpillar’s Construction Industries group will relocate to Singapore, where Rapp will be based in his new role effective January 1, 2013.
“As we weighed the complexity of this role across the range of products and geographies and looked at the critical areas of responsibility for this position, it was clear that Ed was the best person for this position,” Oberhelman said. “Ed brings proven executive-level leadership and demonstrated success to this position. He will provide focus and strategic vision as we work toward our market leadership goals for China and other key growth markets.”
Halverson, currently a Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for Finance Services Division, will become chief financial officer and group president of Corporate Services.
“During his 25 year career, Brad has built substantial deep expertise within our accounting and finance operations, working in positions of increasing responsibility in multiple business units in the United States and in Europe,” Oberhelman said. “In addition, Brad has held a number of accounting and finance roles at the corporate level that have helped to drive standard work and process improvements across this critical service business for our company.”
Caterpillar’s board of directors elected Jim Umpleby, currently vice president with responsibility for Solar Turbines, as a group president with responsibility for Caterpillar’s Energy & Power Systems business.
“With more than 30 years of leadership experience with Solar Turbines and Caterpillar, Jim brings extensive knowledge and understanding of the global energy and power systems industry to our executive office,” Oberhelman said. Jim’s deep expertise in these industries and his demonstrated success as the vice president for Solar Turbines make him an ideal leader for our Energy & Power Systems group.”
Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
