Caterpillar announces retirement of 3 VPs alongside realignments and new Strategic Services Division

Updated Aug 22, 2013

caterpillar logoCaterpillar on Tuesday announced the retirement of three longtime vice presidents, two division realignments and a newly-created Strategic Services Division.

Mike DeWalt has been appointed as the vice president of the new division which will include strategic planning, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), investor relations, economics, business risk management and competitive analysis.

It’s part of a renewed focus the company is placing on the strategic planning process with the goal being to use underlying economics to assist Cat executives in developing and then implementing appropriate corporate strategy.

The retirements of three longtime VPs announced were those of Steve Fisher, Steve Larson and Bill Rohner.

Fisher spent 35 years with Caterpillar and retires as the vice president of the Large Power Systems & Growth Markets Division. Larson, vice president of the Parts Distribution & Diversified Products Division spent 34 years with Cat while Rohner, vice president of the Electric Power Division, spent 41 years at the company.

Fisher will be replaced by Tana Utley, who is currently the company’s vice president of the Industrial Power Systems & Growth Markets Division. Utley, who joined the company in 1986, will take the reins of Large Power Systems & Growth on October 1.

Caterpillar also announced a realignment in its reciprocating engine business that means Utley will be accountable for all Caterpillar and Perkins engines above 18 liters. Cat says the move is “to better align engine products with global customer requirements.”

Utley’s replacement, Ramin Younessi, will be responsible for all Cat and Perkins engines below 18 liters. Caterpillar was able to lure Younessi away from Navistar where he had worked since 2007, most recently as a group vice president.

Rather than simply hire a replacement for Larson, Caterpillar decided to integrate the Parts Distribution element of his division into the Customer Services Support Division which is led by Vice President Steve Gosselin. Gosselin has been with the company since 1979.

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Bill Finerty, currently the vice president of the Americas Distribution Services Division, will take the reins of the now-separate Diversified Products Division, which includes Caterpillar’s global paving products, forestry products, defense and federal products, OEM Solutions group, Cat Tunneling, and the industrial and waste group. Finerty has been with Cat since 1984.

Pablo Koziner will replace Finerty as VP of the distribution division.

Caterpillar’s on-highway truck group will move from the Customer Services Support Division to become part of the Diversified Products Division. The changes for the Diversified Products Division and the Customer Services Support Division will be effective October 1, 2013.

Rohner will be replaced by Steve Niehaus in the Electric Power Division. Niehaus, currently the retail general manager for the division, has been with Cat since 1989.