John Absmeier LearUS - The seating and electrical system supplier has announced that John Absmeier is its new chief technology officer. He joins from Harman, where he was responsible for the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous business unit.

"We are delighted to welcome John with his industry-leading technology and business expertise to Lear at a time when industry trends such as electrification, connectivity and mobility as well as the convergence of our two product segments are driving tremendous growth opportunities," said Ray Scott, Lear's president and CEO. "I am very confident that John will help us drive innovation and sales growth as well as communicate our unique capabilities to our customers and investors. This is an exciting time for our industry and our Company, and Lear has never been in a better position to lead the way with new products and advanced technologies. The addition of John as our CTO will only accelerate our positive momentum."

Lear recently announced that it was spending €5m (US$6.22m) to double the size of its manufacturing facility in Valença, Portugal. This followed up from record sales result during 2017.