- Appointment effective November 2025; reporting directly to Philip Nelles, head of
Continental group sector ContiTech - Brings extensive leadership experience from different positions in the Asia Pacific
region
Continental’s group sector ContiTech has appointed Rohit Markan as the Executive Vice President Industrial Solutions for Asia Pacific (APAC). He previously held senior roles in different companies and most recently functioned as the CEO of Roquette Asia Pacific.
Rohit Markan took up his new role on November 17th, 2025, and will report directly to Executive
Board member for Continental’s group sector ContiTech Philip Nelles. Based at ContiTech’s
location in Singapore, he will manage industrial operations across the APAC region including
markets such as India, China, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Korea as well as Southeast
Asia. One focus of his work will be on continuing to optimize organizational structures and
processes across product groups and customer industries. In addition, as a member of
ContiTech’s recently created Executive Management Committee, he will play a key role in shaping
the future direction of the group sector, which is to be made independent in 2026. Rohit Markan
succeeds Hannes Friederichsen, who left the company after many years and goes into retirement.
The APAC business area encompasses ContiTech’s industrial business in Asia and the Pacific
region, including products made from rubber and plastics – such as hoses, conveyor belts, drive
belts and air springs – for a wide range of industries.
Experienced leader with a broad focus
Rohit Markan is an experienced leader with more than 28 years of expertise in different fields,
multiple industries and locations. He demonstrated his proficiency in Sales, Marketing, Finance,
Manufacturing, Project Leadership, Innovation Management, Profit and Loss Management,
Country Leadership and Board Management. He has successfully led multiple transformation
initiatives and achieved revenue as well as profitability growth on different occasions.
Over the course of his career, he has held several management positions, including as a managing
director for Roquette India Private Limited, Senior Vice President Sales for Roquette Asia Pacific
and Global Marketing Manager for Solar Solutions at Dow Chemicals. Most recently, he had the
role of Global Head of Sales for the pharma business at Roquette Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
“Rohit Markan brings a broad portfolio of experience and perspectives from different regions,
multiple industries and diverse functions which he gained in various management roles. He is the
right person to further develop our industrial business activities in this important region,” said Philip
Nelles, Executive Board member for ContiTech. “Rohit has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to
drive change while at the same time inspiring his teams. We are delighted to have him on board as
we are working together to lead ContiTech into its next chapter as an independent company. I
would like to thank Hannes Friedrichsen for all the fruitful years with the company and wish him all
the best for the future.”
“I am delighted to become part of ContiTech, a company with such a long tradition and so much
potential”, adds Rohit Markan. “I am eager to bring in my expertise and leadership from past
experiences in Asia Pacific, thus making a contribution for harnessing the companies’ potential in
one of the most important growth regions for Continental.”
