EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Accuride Corp. has appointed Charles “Chuck” Byrnes as senior vice president, sales and marketing. In this capacity, he will continue to report directly to Rick Dauch, Accuride president and CEO.
Byrnes takes over the role formerly held by Rick Schomer, who has left Accuride to pursue other professional opportunities.
“Since joining Accuride in August 2007, Rick helped us maintain solid customer relationships during the global recession and our subsequent restructuring,” Dauch said. “We extend our sincere appreciation to Rick for his contributions to our company and wish him the very best for the future.”
Since Byrnes joined Accuride in June as senior vice president, business development, he primarily has supported the company’s mergers and acquisitions process. In his new role, he is responsible for leading Accuride’s strategic global sales and marketing efforts and will drive actions to expand the company’s product and market positions worldwide.
“Chuck has industry-proven leadership skills to build customer relationships and loyalty to our brands, as well as the market experience required to prepare Accuride for successful future growth in Europe, Asia and South America,” Dauch said. “His appointment today is an important step in making our organization more globally experienced and customer-centric.”
Byrnes has more than 25 years of experience in the global transportation industry and joined Accuride from The Timken Co. There, he most recently served as vice president of sales for the Americas for Timken’s Bearings and Power Transmission Group, during the past four years. This role included responsibility for developing and executing Timken’s sales plan for original-equipment customers in the off-highway, heavy truck, process industries, aerospace and positioning controls business units. Previously, he had served for two-year periods as vice president, automotive (Powertrain); vice president, purchasing; and director European automotive sales and marketing for Timken. Byrnes began his career with The Torrington Co. in 1986, holding a range of management positions of increasing responsibility until the company was acquired by Timken in 2003.
Byrnes holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and completed the Executive Development for Global Excellence program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
