The three new members appointed to ZF’s Supervisory Board are: Dr. Gisela Lanza, who holds a Professorship for Production System and Quality Management at the Karlsruhe Institute für Technology (KIT); Axel Strotbek, who was Chief Financial Officer at Audi AG until September 2017; Dr. Mohsen Sohi, Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg SE, the Technology Group.
“With these new Supervisory Board members, we will be able to safeguard continuity which, in times of high dynamic change in the automotive industry, has become ever more important and will allow long-term strategic planning,” said Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, current chairman of the ZF Supervisory Board, who is applying for re-election.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the parting Supervisory Board members, representing both the shareholders as well as our employees – for their long-standing constructive and trusted cooperation. They have contributed significantly to the positive development of the company.”
Referring to the last meeting of the Supervisory Board, Chairman Paefgen said, “I am delighted to welcome the renowned experts Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gisela Lanza, Axel Strotbek and Dr. Mohsen Sohi to ZF’s Supervisory Board. By electing them, we were able to further reinforce the board’s industrial business expertise. This body is a powerful and independent platform which sets out to constructively accompany the ZF Board of Management, now with its new CEO in office, Mr. Wolf-Henning Scheider.”
Mr. Paefgen also said, “With Wolf-Henning Scheider, the Supervisory Board was very fortunate to quickly gain a true specialist for the position of the CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG. He knows the industry and the nature of a foundation company. Looking back upon his professional career, he is an expert in the automotive supplier business. Scheider is well familiar with the challenges of the industry which primarily arise from autonomous, electrified and connected vehicles. He fully supports our ZF 2025 strategy. Moreover, he will provide new impetus and further develop the company beyond the current strategic planning horizon.”
The ten employee representatives in the Supervisory Board were elected at the beginning of March by around 350 delegates. Seven out of ten employee representatives will remain on the board. Joachim Holzner is new on board for the ZF top level executives; he succeeds Jörg Ammon. Wolfgang Schuler, chairman of the Saarbrücken Works Council, is retiring and will be succeeded by his designated successor, Mr. Matthias Scherer, who was elected to the board. Erdal Tahta from Koblenz is the first employee representative from a former TRW location elected to ZF’s Supervisory Board. Mr. Tahta succeeds Matthias Beuerlein from the Schweinfurt location.
The Supervisory Board members at a glance
On behalf of the shareholders:
Ernst BaumannFormer member of the BMW Board of Management, responsible for Human Resources
Andreas BrandFirst Mayor of the City of Friedrichshafen
Prof. Dr. habil. Dr. rer.nat. Claudia EckertProfessor at TU München and managing director of Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security
Robert FriedmannChairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, Künzelsau
Dr. Margarete HaaseMember of the Board of Management of Deutz AG, responsible for Finance, Human Resources and Investor Relations
Dr. Joachim MeineckeLawyer, Freiburg
Jürgen OttoFormer Chief Executive Officer of Brose Group, Coburg
Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef PaefgenFormer Chief Executive Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany, and Bentley Motors Ltd., Crewe, Great Britain
Dagmar SteinertMember of the Executive Board and CFO of Fuchs Petrolub SE, Mannheim
Weidong XuManaging Director of Kelvion Heat Exchangers (China) Co. Ltd.
On behalf of the employees:
Jürgen BungeChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen/Lemförde location
Achim DietrichChairman of the Group Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Joachim HolznerHead of the CV Chassis Technology BU of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen
Frank IwerHead of Staff Position Political and Strategic Planning of the Board of Management of IG Metall, Frankfurt
Peter KippesFirst Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Schweinfurt
Oliver MollChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt location
Vincenzo SavarinoFirst Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Friedrichshafen-Upper Swabia
Matthias SchererDesignated chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Saarbrücken location
Hermann SicklingerChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Passau location
Erdal TahtaChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Koblenz location
The Supervisory Board members (period 2013 – 2018)
On behalf of the shareholders:
Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef PaefgenFormer Chief Executive Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany, and Bentley Motors Ltd., Crewe, Great BritainChairman
Ernst BaumannFormer member of the BMW Board of Management, responsible for Human Resources
Andreas BrandFirst Mayor of the City of Friedrichshafen
Robert FriedmannChairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, Künzelsau
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gisela LanzaHolder of the Professorship for Production System and Quality Management at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT)
Dr. Joachim MeineckeLawyer, Freiburg
Jürgen OttoFormer Chief Executive Officer of Brose Group, Coburg
Dr. Mohsen SohiChief Executive Officer of Freudenberg SE, Weinheim
Dagmar SteinertMember of the Executive Board and CFO of Fuchs Petrolub SE, Mannheim
Axel StrotbekFormer Chief Financial Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt
On behalf of the employees:
Frank IwerHead of Staff Position Political and Strategic Planning of the Board of Management of IG Metall, FrankfurtDeputy Chairman
Jörg AmmonHead of ZF Friedrichshafen AG Projects, Friedrichshafen
Matthias BeuerleinTeam Leader of Non-Production Materials Purchasing, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt
Jürgen BungeChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen/Lemförde location
Achim DietrichChairman of the Group Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Peter KippesFirst Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Schweinfurt
Oliver MollChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt location
Vincenzo SavarinoFirst Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Friedrichshafen-Upper Swabia
Wolfgang SchulerChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Saarbrücken location
Hermann SicklingerChairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Passau location