Piston Automotive, a subsidiary of the Piston Group family of companies, today announced Jana Rosenmann as its new president. In her role, she will report to Founder and Chairman Vinnie Johnson and Piston Group Chief Operating Officer Bob Holloway.
“Without question, Jana will be a game changer for Piston Automotive and our entire fleet of Piston Group companies,” said Johnson. “Her global experience in leading multicultural commercial, operations, strategy, and marketing teams, with a track record of pivoting businesses into new areas will significantly enhance our leadership team’s core competencies, reinforce our growth strategy, and strengthen our market performance and competitiveness.”
Holloway, former Piston Automotive president, was recently promoted to the Piston Group COO position last December.
Rosenmann is a highly strategic senior executive from the automotive and defense industries, with experience in large P&L, strategy and transformation roles. Prior to joining Piston Automotive, Rosenmann served as an executive vice president for ZF Group and led the Electronics & Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Division. Her responsibilities included growing and transforming the business, providing organizational leadership to develop and articulate strategy, implementing business plans and managing operations.
Rosenmann also worked at Airbus for more than 20 years; and served as executive vice president of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Division and was a member of the Airbus Defense & Space Executive Committee. Previously, she held the position of Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy & Marketing. During her career at Airbus, she was instrumental in growing the unmanned aerial systems business as well as driving strategy and transformation in the defense sector.
Global Beginnings
Rosenmann was born and educated in South Africa. Her first job was in the mining industry as an export manager. She left South Africa when she was 26 and studied for a master’s degree in the United Kingdom. In 1998, Rosenmann moved to Germany and accepted an internship at the United Nations. She then moved on to research assistant at the German Ministry of Defense.
Rosenmann earned a master’s degree in international relations theory & European Studies from the University of Kent (London Centre of International Relations). She also holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.