PITTSBURGH - PPG Industries announced several executive appointments effective March 1.

Tim Knavish will become Senior Vice President, Automotive Coatings, and will continue to oversee PPG’s Latin America operations and its corporate environment, health and safety (EHS) function. Knavish is currently PPG Vice President, Global Protective and Marine Coatings (PMC).

Jean-Marie Greindl will become Senior Vice President, Global Architectural Coatings, and President, PPG Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with responsibility for all architectural coatings activities in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions as well as the United States and Canada, and oversight of all PPG business in the EMEA region. Greindl is currently Vice President, Automotive Coatings, EMEA, and President, PPG EMEA.

Ram Vadlamannati will become Senior Vice President, Protective and Marine Coatings and Corporate Development, and will continue to oversee the corporate information technology (IT) function in addition to assuming oversight of PPG’s strategic planning and corporate development function. Vadlamannati is currently Vice President, Architectural Coatings, EMEA.

PPG also announced that Cindy Niekamp, current Senior Vice President, Automotive Coatings, will retire effective March 1. Niekamp joined PPG as Vice President, Automotive Coatings, in early 2009, and was named Senior Vice President and a member of the PPG Operating Committee in 2010. In 2012, she added oversight responsibility for Latin America. Niekamp led PPG’s automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings business in achieving strong revenue growth and profitability during a challenging time in the global automotive industry.