The new chief executive officer of BMW would be Oliver Zipse.
While grappling with the challenge that the advent and growing popularity of electric cars, BMW is hopeful that Zipse, who was described as a "decisive" company lifer, would be able to guide the company through the turbulent times and will help in BMW gaining an upper hand in electric cars. The company also wants to become the leader in the premium car market which it had lost out to Mercedes-Benz under the earlier CEO.
Zipse, 55, had first joined BMW as a trainee back in 1991 and had been the chief of brand and product strategies as well as the head of the Oxford plant in England of the company. He was later promoted to become a member of the board for production at BMW.
Zipse would be taking over charge as the CEO of BMW from August 16, said the German company. The company also noted that the changeover of the company head is happening at a time when the entire auto industry of the world is undergoing a major shift towards electric cars as well as driverless or autonomous cars. The industry is facing challenges from a very unlikely corner in this regard as a number of tech companies have also started efforts to bring out self driving cars.
"With Oliver Zipse, a decisive strategic and analytical leader will assume the Chair of the Board of Management of BMW. He will provide the BMW Group with fresh momentum in shaping the mobility of the future," said Nobert Reithofer, chairman of BMW's supervisory board.
Mercedes Benz had overtaken BMW in 2016 as the best-selling luxury car brand under the leadership of the current CEO Harald Krueger'. The company was also over taken by United States based startup Tesla in the segment of premium electric cars.
Despite being an early leader in the premium electric segment, BMW had to pull back on its electric car ambitions after the disappointing sale of its first electric car, the i3, which was an expensive city car. The company did not manage to sell in the large volumes that it had hoped which gave a chance to Tesla to take over BMW in this electric car segment in terms of sale.
Zipse was instrumental in setting up the efficient production network of BMW with its expansions being undertaken in Hungary, China and the US. That helped the company to achieve profit margins that were the best in the industry despite it being able to a relatively small number of cars compared ot the other global auto majors.
However, industry analysts have said that it is important for leaders of car making companies to possess a hoist of qualities in the current auto industry that is being overtaken by software-driven electric and autonomous cars.
The global market for high-performance sedans has been dominated for decades by the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. However these companies are likely to face new challenges in the near future because of more sophisticated technology and software.
(Source:www.rte.ie)
While grappling with the challenge that the advent and growing popularity of electric cars, BMW is hopeful that Zipse, who was described as a "decisive" company lifer, would be able to guide the company through the turbulent times and will help in BMW gaining an upper hand in electric cars. The company also wants to become the leader in the premium car market which it had lost out to Mercedes-Benz under the earlier CEO.
Zipse, 55, had first joined BMW as a trainee back in 1991 and had been the chief of brand and product strategies as well as the head of the Oxford plant in England of the company. He was later promoted to become a member of the board for production at BMW.
Zipse would be taking over charge as the CEO of BMW from August 16, said the German company. The company also noted that the changeover of the company head is happening at a time when the entire auto industry of the world is undergoing a major shift towards electric cars as well as driverless or autonomous cars. The industry is facing challenges from a very unlikely corner in this regard as a number of tech companies have also started efforts to bring out self driving cars.
"With Oliver Zipse, a decisive strategic and analytical leader will assume the Chair of the Board of Management of BMW. He will provide the BMW Group with fresh momentum in shaping the mobility of the future," said Nobert Reithofer, chairman of BMW's supervisory board.
Mercedes Benz had overtaken BMW in 2016 as the best-selling luxury car brand under the leadership of the current CEO Harald Krueger'. The company was also over taken by United States based startup Tesla in the segment of premium electric cars.
Despite being an early leader in the premium electric segment, BMW had to pull back on its electric car ambitions after the disappointing sale of its first electric car, the i3, which was an expensive city car. The company did not manage to sell in the large volumes that it had hoped which gave a chance to Tesla to take over BMW in this electric car segment in terms of sale.
Zipse was instrumental in setting up the efficient production network of BMW with its expansions being undertaken in Hungary, China and the US. That helped the company to achieve profit margins that were the best in the industry despite it being able to a relatively small number of cars compared ot the other global auto majors.
However, industry analysts have said that it is important for leaders of car making companies to possess a hoist of qualities in the current auto industry that is being overtaken by software-driven electric and autonomous cars.
The global market for high-performance sedans has been dominated for decades by the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. However these companies are likely to face new challenges in the near future because of more sophisticated technology and software.
(Source:www.rte.ie)
