Stefan Budweit has taken over the reins of Clark Europe as president and chief executive officer from January 1 with Rolf Eiten taking a step back to focus on other roles within the company.

With more than 30 years' experience in the forklift sector, Budweit worked as a key account manager with Toyota and Jungheinrich before joining Clark Europe in 2012 as a business development manager.

He has held the positions of director of sales, director of sales and marketing and, for the past year, as chief operating officer.

“I am very much looking forward to the new challenge and to shaping the next steps for Clark Europe together with our dedicated team,” Budweit says of his new role.

Eiten, who started his career working with Clark in 1976, took on the role of CEO of Clark Europe (CMHEU) and Clark France (CMHFR) in 2014 following the death of Egon Strehl. Eiten will now work in an advisory capacity as the new managing director and will also continue in his role as regional manager for Turkey.