News Release：Pioneer Appoints Werner Koestler as Executive Fellow as Part of Driving Growth of Its Business in Global Markets

Pioneer Corporation today announced that Werner Koestler has joined the company in the role of Executive Fellow, effective April 1, 2025. The former executive vice president of Continental AG has 25-plus years of business management experience in the automotive and aerospace sectors and global markets. At Pioneer, he is responsible for helping expand the scope and scale of its business with leading automakers outside Japan.

Under the corporate vision of ‘Creating the Future of Mobility Experiences’, Pioneer has been stepping up its efforts to transform itself into a solutions company. Furthermore, the company has been undertaking strategic initiatives to become a major player in the global arena, including having brought in executives and industry veterans from outside and established R&D hubs in India and Germany. The Pioneer Group intends to provide the next-level mobility experiences to drivers and passengers around the world in collaboration with leading automakers, tier-one suppliers, and retail partners.

Shiro Yahara, President and CEO of Pioneer Corporation, said:

“We are excited to have Werner Koestler on board with us at Pioneer. His extensive global business experience is a great asset for Pioneer in our effort to drive the growth of our business with automakers globally. I am confident that his experience in the automotive and mobility sectors and Pioneer’s brand asset and strengths in manufacturing are a winning combination in achieving our objective of taking mobility experiences to the new level.”

About Werner Koestler

Werner Koestler has over 25 years of experience in growing and transforming businesses in the automotive, aerospace, and defense sectors. He brings a global perspective to Pioneer, gained from having lived and worked in the United States, Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea), and Europe. Prior to joining Pioneer in April 2025, he had served in a variety of executive capacities at Continental AG from 2007 to 2022. In 2023, he joined TTTech AG, a deep tech company founded as a spinoff from Technical University Vienna, as Chief Performance Officer.