Porsche has appointed Oliver Blume as its new chairman as replacement for Matthias Müller, who has been moved to lead a crisis-hit Volkswagen Group.
Blume, 47, has been in charge of production and logistics for Porsche since the start of 2013. He will commence his new job tomorrow (Thursday, 1 October).
The German manufacturer has also drafted in Detlev von Platen as its new sales and marketing chief. Von Platen, 51, comes to Zuffenhausen from the USA where he was head of Porsche’s North American arm for just over seven years.
He’ll start his new job on 1 November as a replacement for Bernhard Maier, who will be reassigned to become chairman of Skoda’s board in the Czech Republic.
Blume’s appointment is intended to provide continuity to Porsche in the wake of Müller’s move, which was unexpected until the Volkswagen scandal exploded.
Uwe Hück, chairman of the Group Works Council of Porsche, said: “Ever since 2010, Matthias Müller has been the driving force for great advances at Porsche. He embodies our Porsche DNA. We are not happy to see him go.
“But his successor is a Porsche person through and through. I think that appointing a production person to the top position is a strong statement. I am certain that Oliver Blume is the right choice for successfully continuing and further developing what we have built up together with Matthias Müller. If we want to follow through on our planned projects and assure our future, we need continuity.”
One of Blume’s main tasks will be to oversee a major revamp of Porsche’s production facilities. The company is investing €1.1bn in its current production sites over the next five years.
A new engine plant and a new body manufacturing plant will be built at the company’s main business site, and the assembly line in Zuffenhausen will also be extended.
In the future, not only will all Porsche 911 and Boxster cars come off the assembly line there, but also Cayman models starting in summer 2016. Cayman production is currently split across Stuttgart and Osnabrück.
In his former role, Blume oversaw the set-up of the facilities for making the 918 Spyder, as well as further expansion of the Leipzig plant to handle the build of the new Porsche Macan and full production of the Porsche Panamera.
A decision will be made on the successor to Blume as the head of production in the coming weeks.
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