In a surprise move, BMW chief executive Joachim Milberg will step down next May after asking the supervisory board “to relieve him from his office”.
In a surprise move, BMW chief executive Joachim Milberg will step down next May after asking the supervisory board “to relieve him from his office”.
Milberg made the request at a board meeting in Munich on Tuesday. He will be replaced by the current chief financial officer, Helmut Panke, 55, at the company’s annual meeting in May 2002. The company said no outside candidates had been considered.
Milberg had previously been expected to stand down in 2003 when he turned 60. He took charge in 1999 after previous chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, the new boss at Volkswagen, and production chief Wolfgang Reitzle were ousted following a split over BMW’s strategy for the Rover Group, its former UK subsidiary.
BMW dropped Britain’s Rover Group last year, after selling off Land Rover, and keeping the Mini brand.
Volker Doppelfeld, chairman of the BMW supervisory board, said Milberg’s decision was personal. “Under the chairmanship of Joachim Milberg, BMW is currently experiencing the most successful period in its history,” Doppelfeld said in a written statement.
BMW also announced that board member and former Rover Chairman Werner Saemann would retire at the end of the year.
BMW is adamant that Milberg’s decision did not mean any change in strategy or internal management differences.
“Now that BMW is in a very strong position, it is the best time to initiate this change,” said company spokesman Uwe Mahla. “This way, we can avoid all the speculation about his successor. This can put a lot of uncertainty on a company.”
BMW said that the board will propose that Milberg be given a seat on the board after he leaves as chief executive.