LKQ Corp. today announced that effective April 1, 2019, Arnd Franz will join LKQ Europe as chief operating officer (COO). He will report directly to the CEO and Managing Director of LKQ Europe, John Quinn.

“The expansion of our European leadership team reflects the role of LKQ as the leading value-added distributor of vehicle parts and our strong growth in Europe,” said Quinn. “I have tremendous confidence in Arnd’s ability to further accelerate the integration and improve operational practices of our portfolio of industry-leading companies and to further strengthen LKQ’s leading position in the European market.”

Franz is currently corporate executive vice president and member of the management board of the MAHLE Group, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. He has served as a member of the board of management and as executive vice at MAHLE Group, where he has been responsible for the company’s global automotive sales and application engineering, including the aftermarket business unit. From 2006 until 2013, he was executive vice president and general manager for MAHLE Aftermarket.