The Supervisory Board of ZF Friedrichshafen AG has decided on a new concept for the Board of Management that will be introduced during the course of 2013. The former separation of responsibilities for Corporate functions and divisions is eliminated. The number of members of the Board of Management is reduced from eight to six due to the fact that Reinhard Buhl and Dr. Gerhard Wagner will retire and leave the Board of Management. Michael Hankel, former Chief Executive Officer of ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, will be a new member of ZF's Board of Management. Dr. Peter Ottenbruch, ZF's Member of the Board of Management responsible for Technology, will take over his responsibility at ZF Lenksysteme GmbH.
"With the new Board of Management concept, we significantly extend the areas of responsibility for the members of ZF's Board of Management. The strategic alignment of the Board of Management functions gains more importance," says Prof. Dr. Giorgio Behr, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. "Furthermore, we want to have a more intensive network and cooperation within the entire ZF Group to manage the future growth in a better way." At the same time, the number of ZF's Board of Management members is reduced to six.
The members of the Board of Management, Reinhard Buhl, responsible for the Chassis Technology division, and Dr. Gerhard Wagner, responsible for the Powertrain Technology division, will leave the company in 2013 and go into retirement.
Buhl and Wagner will remain on the Board of Management until they retire. They are responsible for their respective division and, during the transition, will act in the interest of the redesigned Board of Management and actively support the joining and implementation of today's divisional structure into the new Board of Management concept.
"After the successful reorganization of the company during the past two years, we consistently want to continue on the path we have chosen," says Behr. It is important for the company to make even better use of the group's synergies. "If the members of the Board of Management have a more integrated approach to the group's and divisions' interests, this is always to the benefit of cooperation."
As a consequence of the realignment, the former Corporate Technology function is divided into the Corporate functions "Research and Development," "Quality" and "Production." Michael Hankel, previously CEO of ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, a joint venture of ZF and Bosch, enters the ZF Board of Management as a new member. Here, he will be responsible for the passenger car sector with the Powertrain Technology and Chassis Technology divisions, as well as the Corporate Production Engineering function. At the same time, the Die Casting Technology business unit will be integrated into the Powertrain Technology division. Hankel also takes over the responsibility for the Electronic Systems business unit.
Dr. Peter Ottenbruch, member of the Board of Management in charge of Corporate Operations and Technology, will become new Chairman of the Board at ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, thus leaving the ZF Board of Management.
CEO Dr. Stefan Sommer will remain responsible for the Corporate Market function and ZF Services, and he takes over the Corporate Research and Development function. Rolf Lutz keeps his responsibility in the Board of Management for the Commercial Vehicle Technology division and the Region of South America. In addition, he takes over the Corporate Quality function.
Board of Management member Wilhelm Rehm will be in charge of the Corporate Materials Management function and the Industrial Technology division.
Board of Management member Jürgen Holeksa will remain responsible for the Corporate Human Resources function and also assume responsibility for the Region of Asia-Pacific.
Board of Management member Dr. Konstantin Sauer will be in charge of the Corporate Finance, Controlling, and IT functions, Process Management and the Region of North America.
The basic structure of the four divisions will remain the same and, in future, the operations will be managed by experienced executive managers who report to the respective members of the Board of Management.
