Volkswagen surprised us this Tuesday morning with an announcement: the previous BMW Chief Development Officer, Dr. Herbert Diess, will become Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen starting CEO October 1, 2015.
In the newly created position, Diess will set new momentum for the Volkswagen brand.
Born in Munich in 1958, Dr. Herbert Diess worked for BMW AG since 1996 and after several other senior positions, he became board member in 2007. Initially, he was the director of purchasing and supplier network, then in 2012 he took over the R&D department.
With immediate effect, Klaus Fröhlich (54) is the new member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Development. This appointment was also decided at today’s meeting of the Supervisory Board. Klaus Fröhlich has been with the BMW Group since 1987, during which time he has held various executive management functions. Most recently, he was in charge of the Small and Mid-sized Series Product Line.
