Bob De Lange has been named the new group president of Customer and Dealer Support for Caterpillar.
De Lange is the current Construction Industries group president. He will move into his new role on June 1.
“During his 25-year career with Caterpillar, Bob has delivered excellent results in leadership positions across Europe, the United States and Asia,” said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby. “Throughout his career, Bob has built strong relationships with our dealers while holding a range of product and marketing positions. His diverse experience working with our dealer network makes him ideally suited to lead the Customer & Dealer Support group for Caterpillar.”
De Lange’s appointment follows the announcement of group president Rob Charter’s retirement, who has served as Caterpillar’s group president of Customer and Dealer Support since 2015.
Caterpillar group president Tom Pellette, who is the current Energy and Transportation group president, will now lead Construction Industries, replacing De Lange.
“Tom delivered strong results during a challenging time for the industry when previously leading our Construction Industries organization, and with Bob De Lange’s move, Tom is best positioned to resume the leadership role for Construction Industries,” Umpleby said.
As well, Caterpillar’s board of directors has appointed Ramin Younessi to lead Caterpillar’s Energy & Transportation group, replacing Pellette. Younessi is currently vice president of Caterpillar’s Industrial Power Systems Division (IPSD).
“Ramin’s extensive leadership experience prior to joining Caterpillar, combined with his outstanding leadership of IPSD for the last five years, make him a valuable addition to the Executive Office,” Umpleby said.
Younessi joined Caterpillar in 2013, bringing more than 25 years of outside senior leadership experience. Previous executive responsibility included product development, quality, purchasing and product planning with Navistar, as well as product development and planning for Daimler AG’s commercial vehicle division. Younessi has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and master’s degrees from Syracuse University and the University of Maryland.
