BMW’s Harald Krüger won’t seek a second term as the Group CEO. Photo: BMW Communications
BMW Communications
BMW is losing its boss, just as it begins to morph into the bold, new world of electrification and the looming tightening of Europe’s emissions laws.
The 53-year-old Harald Krüger announced today that he would not ask for a second term as BMW’s leader at company’s July 18 Supervisory Board meeting. His contract expires in April next year.
Sources suggest BMW is unlikely to look for leadership from outside the company, leaving its board member for production, Oliver Zipse and its board member for research and development, Klaus Fröhlich, as the leading contenders to replace him.
Few have been shocked by the move, with Krüger wearing the weight of his position heavily compared to other German heavyweights like Daimler’s Dieter Zetsche and Volkswagen’s Herbert Diess.
Indeed, he collapsed on stage at the Frankfurt auto show during his maiden public presentation as CEO four years ago and his health has appeared delicate since.
BMW has confirmed it will use the Supervisory Board meeting to discuss a successor, who will need to the support of the Quandt family that is the largest shareholder of the BMW Group.
“The BMW Group has been my professional home for more than 27 years,” Krüger said in a statement.
“After more than 10 years in the board of management, more than four of them as the CEO of the BMW Group, I would like to pursue new professional endeavors.”
Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, at the company’s annual general meeting in May. Photo: AP Photo/Michael Sohn
Yet, during Krüger’s time at the helm of BMW, it has been overtaken by Mercedes-Benz as the world’s largest premium brand and it yielded its electrification advantage over its German rivals from the i3 and i8 innovation specials by failing to follow them up with successors.
Krüger tried to rectify this two weeks ago by announcing an acceleration of its electrification plans, with the goal of 25 electric and plug-in production cars arriving two years early, at the end of 2023.
It could also signal a weakening of the position of the BMW Group’s previous CEO and current Supervisory Board Chairman, Norbert Reithofer, who pushed for Krüger to replace him instead of Diess.
Diess went on to head the Volkswagen brand and then the Volkswagen Group, moving from two million cars a year to more than 10 million a year and managing brands ranging from Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini, Volkswagen Commercial and even the Scania and MAN trucking brands.
