FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — BMW has named its top production manager, Oliver Zipse, as CEO to lead the luxury automaker through a shift to new ways of doing business such as electric vehicles and offering cars on a per-use basis.
The Munich-based company said in a news release Thursday that Zipse, 55, would succeed Harald Krueger on Aug. 16.
Krueger, 53, said July 5 he would not seek to renew his contract when it expires next May.
Krueger’s tenure has seen the company lose its global lead in luxury sales to rival Mercedes. The company built an early lead in battery cars with its i3 city car, but was slow to follow up with more battery models, choosing to emphasize battery-internal combustion hybrids while Tesla seized market share in premium battery cars.
