LAS VEGAS, NV – Vipar Heavy Duty has set aggressive goals for the next five years, and promoted several executives who will be responsible for meeting them.

Larry Griffin has been named vice president of program management, Andrei Katibnikov vice president of information technology, and Jeff Paul vice president of marketing. All three had previously served as directors within the organization. Along with Jim Pennig, vice president – business development, they will join a new executive management team.

Each will have responsibilities under the company’s new Game Plan for Growth that has targeted US $1 billion in annual reported program purchases as early as 2021.

 “To do that, we have to increase those purchases by $350 million,” noted Vipar president Chris Baer.

Vipar Heavy Duty and Power Heavy Duty are now joined by Vipar Technology Group, Global Parts Network, and Vipar Holdings.

While multiple companies are involved, the new department leads will have responsibilities across the organization.  

The company has also joined the NEXUS Automotive International SA (N!) global aftermarket trade group, and partnered with Automotive Distribution Network (The Network) and Automotive Parts Associates (APA Group) to form NEXUS North America.

But the goals are not limited to sales targets alone. “I think our speed could be a lot better, so my goal is to increase our speed,” Baer said. “We need to execute.”

Recently drafted core values for the company include such initiatives as indexing, efficiencies, technology, the global parts network, and globalization.