ADDISON, Illinois -- Takashi Kitahata was recently named president of KYB America LLC. Kitahata replaces Shinichiro Maekawa.

Prior to being named KYB President, Kitahata served as a sales manager for KYB Europe where he was responsible for growing KYB’s business throughout Eastern Europe and Russia and as a sales and inventory coordinator for KYB America. In his most recent role, Kitahata acted as a senior staff manager for KYB’s Automotive Components Division in Tokyo.

Commenting on his appointment, Kitahata stated, “I am very happy to be back at KYB America and I will work very hard to continue on the many recent successes of KYB. We have great team of people in place here at KYB America. I am looking forward to working with Mike Fiorito, our team of talented people and our distribution partners to continue growing our business in North America.”