Company announces executive leadership succession plan.
LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ: LKQ) today announced that Dominick Zarcone, current President and Chief Executive Officer, has informed the Company’s Board of Directors of his intention to retire from his role effective June 30, 2024. The Board has unanimously selected Justin Jude, the Company’s current Senior Vice President and President of its Wholesale – North America segment, to succeed Zarcone as LKQ’s next President and CEO.
Justin Jude will succeed Dominick Zarcone as LKQ’s next President and CEO.
In the interim, the Board has appointed Jude to serve as LKQ’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from January 1 until he officially succeeds Zarcone as President and CEO on July 1, 2024. It is anticipated that Zarcone and Jude will be included on the slate of nominees for election as members of the LKQ Board of Directors at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders in May 2024.
Jude has been an LKQ team member since 2004. During his tenure at LKQ, he has held various leadership roles across the Company’s North American Sales, Supply Chain, and Information Systems departments. From June 2014 to July 2015, he served as President of LKQ’s Specialty segment. Since July 2015, he has served as President of LKQ’s Wholesale – North America segment. In this role, he has produced remarkable financial results and developed an incredible leadership team. In addition, he currently serves on the board of directors of MEKO in Sweden.
Zarcone commented, “It has been an absolute honor to serve LKQ over the past nine years as we have expanded and strengthened our global businesses and leadership teams. Our success is the product of the tireless efforts of our greatest asset – the 51,000 team members who make LKQ truly special. Importantly, we started on an operational excellence journey in late 2018 and have achieved tremendous progress. Nowhere has that been more evident than in our Wholesale – North America segment which, under Justin’s direction, has significantly expanded margins and improved cash flow, all while enhancing our leading market position. Time and again, Justin has proven himself as both a strong operating executive and an effective leader who definitively embodies LKQ’s values. The Board’s decision to appoint Justin as my successor will ensure the continuation of the operational excellence program and maintain the employee-focused culture that is critical to our continued success.”
“I am thrilled to be selected to serve as the next CEO of LKQ, and I am very grateful to Nick and the Board for their support,” said Jude. “LKQ has an extraordinary history and an extremely bright future, and it will be my honor to guide and work alongside the best team in the industry in our ongoing pursuit of our mission: to be the leading global value-added and sustainable distributor of vehicle parts and accessories. With the experience I gained leading our Specialty segment years ago and our Wholesale – North America segment for the past eight years, I look forward to driving organic revenue growth while implementing our lean operating model across our entire organization and focusing on execution as CEO of LKQ. I will do my best to continue to cultivate our exceptional culture, which differentiates LKQ from its competitors.”
Chairman of the Board, Guhan Subramanian, stated, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Nick for his countless contributions to our Company’s success. As CEO, Nick mentored and developed a world-class leadership team, established a people-first culture throughout the organization, established the Company’s operational excellence initiatives, and produced solid financial results.”
“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a succession planning process that the Board initiated more than a year ago. Justin’s almost 20 years of service to LKQ has been marked by outstanding performance, excellent leadership, and sound judgment,” added Subramanian. “The Board is confident that Justin is the right person to be our next CEO and execute the Company’s long-term strategy.”