Hydro has appointed Erik Fossum and Jeff Lehman as the new leaders for its aluminium extrusion businesses in Europe and North America, respectively.
Erik Fossum is appointed new business unit president of Extrusion Europe. He replaces Bruno D’hondt, who successfully led the Extrusion Europe unit since September 2018, delivering stronger results over the period.
At the same time, Jeff Lehman has been named business unit president of Extrusion North America, succeeding Charlie Straface, who is retiring after 45 years in the aluminium industry. The last nine years of his career, Straface led the North American organisation on its journey to becoming the undisputed leader in terms of quality, reliability and service.
Right: Erik Fossum
“North America and Europe are our largest markets in Hydro Extrusions and our focus is to continue creating value through close collaboration with our customers and to grow our market share. With Erik and Jeff in place, we are accelerating the execution on our 2030 growth strategy,” says Paul Warton, executive vice president responsible for Hydro Extrusions.
“The market situation is challenging right now, but the long-term outlook for aluminium and extrusions is still very positive. So we need to ensure that we can continue to future-proof our customers by delivering the best solutions with aluminium, with the right environmental footprint, and to attract and retain the best people, which is the basis for our success.”
Largest business units in Hydro Extrusions With 8,300 employees, Extrusion Europe is the largest of the four business units in Hydro Extrusions. Extrusion North America is next-largest, with 5,600 employees at its plants and offices in the United States and Canada. Combined, the two business units had revenues of EUR 5.4 billion in 2023.
Left: Jeff Lehman
Erik Fossum has had several management roles during his career with Hydro, which began in 1995, including seven years as head of the company’s primary aluminium commercial team. Prior to taking over Extrusion Europe, he led Hydro Extrusions’ Precision Tubing unit, which focuses on heat transfer applications for the automotive and HVAC industries.
Jeff Lehman joins Extrusion North America after having served for seven years as head of Hydro Extrusions’ operations in Asia, based in Suzhou, China. He joined Hydro in 2012. Before that, Lehman spent most of his career within the manufacturing industry, including commercial roles with Alcoa, Technoform and HA-International.
“I would like to thank both Bruno and Charlie for having successfully led these important units for the past years and look forward to the continuation of our growth journey,” says Warton.