Brian Pour is President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the executive board for Auria.
Pour has held this position since the 2017 inception of the company and was instrumental in leading and executing the carveout, launch and revitalization of the business to position Auria as a leading global supplier of automotive flooring, acoustical, thermal, aerodynamic, and other fiber-based solutions.
Under his leadership, the company has expanded its product portfolio, launched its aftermarket business, added seven new production facilities, and created a dedicated sustainability department to invest in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Pour is an automotive industry veteran with over 25 years of global automotive executive, commercial, technical, and operational leadership experience. Before launching Auria, Pour spent 10 years with International Automotive Components (IAC), where he most recently served as the global Chief Operating Officer. In addition to being responsible for strategy development, technology initiatives and operations, he was also the architect for IAC’s global restructuring plan, for which he led the negotiations and deal structure for the asset divestiture that resulted in the creation of Auria.
Prior to his role as COO, Pour spent eight years in China as Vice President of Asia for IAC. While in Asia, he was responsible for establishing and growing IAC’s presence across China, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, and Malaysia. Among his achievements in Asia, Pour set up technical centers in China, India, Japan and South Korea; organically grew top line revenue by more than 18 times; established market presence in all four of IAC’s core commodity groups; and built and launched 16 new greenfield and brownfield manufacturing sites across the region.
Before joining IAC, Pour spent six years with Lear Corporation where he served as Engineering Director for the Asian OEM business unit. He began his automotive career with Textron Automotive Company where he served in a variety of program management and engineering positions both in the US and Japan, over the course of six years.
Pour holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University in Michigan.
Sonia Moreira is the Chief Financial Officer, for Auria.
With more than 17 years of automotive industry experience, Moreira has a consistent track record of driving high levels of productivity and performance, as a hands-on leader who has held management roles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia.
Prior to joining Auria, Moreira was the Chief Financial Officer for Global Automotive Systems, and before that she served as Vice President of finance for Gestamp North America, a Global Tier 1 supplier, managing a $2B Operations in US and Mexico. Before Gestamp North America, Moreira was the Chief Financial Officer and Board Member for Sodecia North America for over six years.
Moreira began her career at Sodecia as Controller in San Paulo, Brazil, and later held positions including Internal Auditor, and Head of Controlling for the Group at its Portuguese headquarters. She also held leadership roles in M&A and helped lead the company’s financial recovery.
Moreira holds a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration and Management from Oporto Economy University, Portugal, and a Master of Business Administration, EGP from Porto Business School, Portugal & IE Business School, Madrid, Spain. She also has post-graduate training in Management Executive Programs and Business Leadership Courses from diverse colleges worldwide.
Kiel Smith serves as Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Internal Audit, General Counsel, & Corporate Secretary for Auria. In this role, he is responsible for the global Legal function of the company as well as the management of the global Information Technology department and Internal Audit function.
Prior to Auria, Smith spent five years at International Automotive Components (IAC), first as Associate Counsel and then as Senior Counsel. Among other responsibilities, he played key roles in the closing of numerous critical M&A and financing transactions at IAC. The most significant transaction was the successful launch of Auria, which was a joint venture formed to operate IAC’s soft trim business. The project spanned nearly two years and Smith was instrumental in completing the execution of more than 30 separate purchase agreements simultaneously across 11 different countries, together with multiple loan facilities, at closing.
Smith has also worked for a closely held investment company with a focus on transactions, corporate governance, and litigation. During law school he interned with Judge Richard Speer in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio and with Judge Brian Zahra in his role as Chief Justice of the Michigan Court of Appeals (now sitting on the Michigan Supreme Court).
Smith earned his Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Toledo College of Law, and his Bachelor’s degree in history from Central Michigan University.
Marc Flegler is Senior Vice President (SVP) and Managing Director Europe and Chief Sustainability (CSO) for Auria. In his role as SVP and Managing Director, he is responsible for the company’s operations and business strategy in the region. As Auria’s global CSO, he leads the company’s mission-driven environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives and establishes key performance indicators as part of the measurable long-term strategy.
With more than 30 years of automotive experience, Flegler has extensive experience in commercial and sales management, operations, mechanical engineering, supply chain, organizational development and strategic turn arounds. Prior to his current position, he was Senior Vice President, Europe Soft Trim & Acoustics for International Automotive Components (IAC), responsible for Commercial, Operations and Engineering activities for Soft Trim business in Europe. Before that, he was Senior Vice President, Procurement for IAC, overseeing all procurement functions – direct and indirect materials procurement, supplier quality, as well as Procurement Finance and Purchasing Systems. Before joining IAC, Flegler held several positions at Harman International leading up to executive roles of global Vice President Procurement for Mechanics, and Electronics.
Flegler earned master’s degrees in and Production and Logistics from AKAD University in Lahr, Germany and Mechanical Engineering from the Technical High School of Stuttgart, Germany. He is a German national.
Qiuming Yang is the Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Asia & RSA for Auria, responsible for leading and overseeing corporate development (M&A, joint ventures and strategic alliances), marketing and communications, investor relations and Corporate Strategy development in those regions.
Prior to his current role, Yang was Vice President of International Automotive Components (IAC) China, headquartered in Shanghai, where he was responsible for the Commercial, Engineering and Manufacturing operations across China. Concurrently, he also held the position of General Manager of the Shanghai IAC Songjiang Automotive Carpet and Acoustics Co., Ltd. joint venture. During his time at IAC, Yang played a critical role in successfully growing and diversifying the customer base, expanded the company’s product portfolio offering across the region, added seven new facilities to the operation and more than tripled the sales for the company.
Before IAC, Yang spent more than a decade with Lear Corporation in a variety of positions, including Business Development Manager, Shanghai Door Trim Plant Operations Director and Shanghai Carpet Plant Manager.
Yang earned his Bachelor of Science degree in scientific English and computer science from Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, his master of engineering degree from Dong Hua University and his Executive Master of Business Administration from the China European International Business School.
Mike Renner is Senior Vice President & Managing Director, North America for Auria. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the Commercial, Operations, Engineering and Program Management functions for this region.
Renner brings more than 36 years of Operations and Manufacturing experience to his current role, including three previous long-term assignments in Europe. Prior to Auria, he was Senior Vice President, Operations at International Automotive Components (IAC), where he was responsible for the Hard and Soft Trim operations, globally. Prior to that, he held various Operations positions at Auria legacy companies IAC and Lear, where he began his career in 1984.
Rich Zeff is Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Human Rights Officer for Auria. In his role as SVP, he is responsible for leading global Human Resources for the company. As Human Rights Officer, he oversees the promotion and protection of human rights within the organization and across its value chain, including the monitoring and supervision of Auria’s complaint reporting mechanism.
Previously, Zeff had been Senior Director, Human Resources for International Automotive Components (IAC) since the company’s inception in North America in 2007. In that role, he oversaw HR teams and activities for several manufacturing facilities in the US and Canada. Zeff also led the HR function throughout all countries in Asia from 2014-17.
Prior to his time with IAC, Zeff worked with Lear Corporation as a Labor Director, responsible for overseeing labor relations and negotiating collective bargaining agreements in many of Lear’s US and Canadian plants. Before his time at Lear, Zeff practiced law in Baltimore, Maryland from 1984 to 1994, specializing in labor and employment matters where his practice focused on bringing labor and management together to solve complex challenges.
Zeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and his Juris Doctor from New York Law School.
Marcos De Lorenzo Tonndorf is Chief Technology Officer for Auria. In that role, he leads the company’s aggressive global innovation and advanced product development strategy in collaboration with technology leaders across the company with an acute focus on Auria’s new EV products.
Tonndorf is an automotive industry veteran with almost 30 years of global experience. He was previously vice president of North American product development and global supply chain management where oversaw advanced material development and product engineering as well as the company’s purchasing, logistics and supplier quality strategies.
Prior to that, Tonndorf spent over a decade as vice president of purchasing at Autoneum North America, Inc. where he was instrumental in the integration of product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) while also establishing product and material specification standards across the company. Before that, he served in various procurement management and technical purchasing roles for international companies, such as Siemens VDO Automotive, Bosch Automotive and Mercedes Benz.
A native of Brazil, Tonndorf earned his Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering degree from PUC Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
David Ladd is Senior Director, Aftermarket & Accessories for Auria Solutions, LLC (Auria), a global tier-one supplier of vehicle acoustical, flooring and other fiber-based interior products. In this role, he is responsible for leading the company’s business-to-consumer and OE Accessories Aftermarket business unit.
Ladd was instrumental in launching the company’s Aftermarket and Accessories business unit in 2019. Under his leadership, the business unit continues to forge a position among established leaders in the Specialty Performance Vehicle aftermarket, including Off-Road, Hot Rod and Classic Car restoration.
Ladd brings over 30 years of automotive, transportation and aftermarket experience to his role. He was previously Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for the company. Prior to joining Auria in 2017, Ladd served as the Global Head of Corporate Communications for tier-one supplier, International Automotive Components (IAC), a position he held since 2007. Prior to that, he served for 16 years in various leadership roles in public relations and marketing for Siemens, which included regional and global roles for Siemens VDO Automotive, Siemens Transportation Systems and Siemens Corp., USA. He also served in various public relations roles supporting Ford Motorsports & Special Event Marketing, Ford Parts & Service Division and at Volkswagen of America.
Ladd received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Public Relations and German Language from Wayne State University.