Michael Leonard has been appointed president and CEO of the Nippon Paint Automotive Americas Group/

Michael Leonard. President and CEO of the Nippon Paint Automotive Americas Group

Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings announced the appointment of Michael Leonard as President and CEO of the Nippon Paint Automotive Americas Group. In this role he will lead Nippon Paint Automotive Americas, Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings Mexico S. A de C. V., and Nippon Paint Automotive Brazil  which are suppliers to the automotive coatings market for their respective locations.   All three companies are affiliates NPAC of which is headquartered in Japan.  Mr. Leonard is succeeding Mr. Robert Angart, who retired from NPAA at the end of June.

Leonard has been with the company over 32 years and has a wide range of experience and expertise, starting as a chemist in 1992, then taking various roles in Field Technical Service before moving to sales as a Commercial Director and then Vice President of Sales & Marketing.  Mr. Leonard holds a B.S. from Illinois State University and a M.A. from DePaul University.

“I am honored and excited to lead this great company in one of the world’s most challenging industries during a time of unprecedented change.  I believe strongly in our Mission to develop value-added and innovative coating systems for the automotive market with service, operational excellence, and quality as pillars of our business.  In doing so, it is my vision that NPAA will be known as the one-company solution in the automotive coatings market throughout the Americas as we work to maximize shareholder value.”

“To help achieve that mission, we are expanding and improving our E-coat capabilities with our new Chattanooga, Tennessee location that will be fully operational in early 2025.”  In addition to E-coat, the Nippon Paint Automotive Americas Group also supplies pre-treatment, liquid body paint, and paint for plastics directly to OEMs or their Tiers.