After five years as Plant Manager at the Audi site in Neckarsulm, from 1 May 2021 Helmut Stettner will take on new duties in China, where he will be CEO of the PPE Company, newly founded by Audi and FAW. In this new function he will be responsible for setting up the company with its production plant in Changchun, which he will subsequently lead. From 2024 onwards, e-models for the Chinese market will be produced there, based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) developed in cooperation with Porsche. In August 2020 Stettner already took over the establishment of the new company in China as its acting manager and guided this project in addition to his responsibilities in Neckarsulm. As Stettner’s successor, Fred Schulze will return to Neckarsulm. Since 2018 Schulze has been Executive Vice President for Production and Product Management at SAIC Volkswagen in Shanghai – a joint venture between China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Volkswagen AG.
“We thank Helmut Stettner for his outstanding work in Neckarsulm. At a difficult time he has safely guided the site, successfully implemented the renewal of the entire core model range, and recently set the course for the future of the site in important ways. In addition to the infrastructure requirements for producing future models, he has also pushed ahead electrification at Neckarsulm and the digitalization of production and logistics”, says Peter Kössler, Board Member for Production and Logistics. With his extensive experience in China, adds Kössler, Stettner has proven expertise for his new duties. From 2011 to 2015, as Site and Production Manager with the joint-venture partner FAW in Changchun, he was previously responsible for the production of Four Rings models and other brands of the Volkswagen Group in the Far East.
“In Fred Schulze, an acknowledged expert who has excellent knowledge of the site and the region returns to Neckarsulm. He contributes a great deal of experience in automobile production, including experience at other brands and sites”, said Kössler. In his current role as Executive Vice President for Production and Product Management at SAIC Volkswagen, Schulze is responsible for the entire production of Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi models in all ten plants at the joint-venture company in China. From 2012 until 2015 Schulze already held the position of Audi Plant Manager at Neckarsulm, and was thus also the predecessor of Helmut Stettner. “I learned car-making at the Neckarsulm site in 1993. I am delighted to come back home now”, says Schulze of his return.