Germany's BMW appoints new chief from 2015

[BERLIN] German top-of-the-range carmaker BMW announced a shake-up at its helm Tuesday, appointing a new chief executive and proposing a new head of the supervisory board.

Current head of production Harald Krueger, 49, will take over as BMW's chief executive in May, the company said in a statement.

He will replace Norbert Reithofer, who has held the position since 2006 and will be put forward for election to the supervisory board at the 2015 annual general meeting, it added.

The supervisory board supports Mr Reithofer then for election as its chairman.

"The BMW group plans to maintain its leading role in the premium segment. To achieve this, we have to hand over responsibility to the next generation at an appropriate time," Joachim Milberg, current supervisory board chairman, said in the statement.

BMW also named Klaus Froehlich as a new board member responsible for development to replace Herbert Diess who has just joined rival car-maker Volkswagen.

BMW said last month that profits slipped in the third quarter despite rising sales due to higher taxes but that it was confident about its outlook for the year.

AFP