Mladá Boleslav, September 29, 2021 – Christian Schenk will become Å KODA AUTO’s new Board Member for Finance and IT on October 1, 2021, succeeding Klaus-Dieter Schürmann, who has been responsible for the department for five years. Schenk was most recently Chief Financial, IT and Legal Officer at MAN Truck & Bus SE. The new management team around CEO Thomas Schäfer is now complete.

Thomas Schäfer, KODA AUTO CEO, says: “I would like to thank Klaus-Dieter Schürmann for his work at Å KODA AUTO. Over the past five years, he has made a significant contribution to the company’s excellent financial development. In 2020 in particular, amid the challenges of the pandemic, he managed to achieve a clearly positive operating result through strict cost and cash management. I wish him all the best for the future. At the same time, I am delighted that we have been able to win Christian Schenk as the new Å KODA AUTO Board Member for Finance and IT. Mr. Schenk is a proven financial expert with international experience in the automotive industry. His task will be to make the company a long-term efficiency champion in the European core competition and to make Å KODA’s IT operations fit for the future. I wish Mr. Schenk every success and look forward to working with him. “

Christian Schenk becomes KODA AUTO’s new board member for finance and IT
on October 1, 2021. After studying economics at the University of Göttingen, Schenk began his career in 1999 at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg. From 2003 to 2006 he was Head of Group Auditing for Europcar International in France and then moved as Head of Central Finance to the group importer VW Group UK in Milton Keynes. Schenk then took on leading positions at Volkswagen Passenger Cars in Wolfsburg in the areas of earnings and financing (2009-2012) and overall financial planning (2012-2016). From 2016 to 2019 he was responsible for controlling at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. In October 2019, he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of MAN SE and Chief Financial Officer, IT and Legal Department of MAN Truck & Bus SE. As a result of the merger of MAN SE with TRATON SE on August 31, 2021, the additional executive board department of MAN SE was closed.

Klaus-Dieter Schürmann has been Head of Finance and IT at ŠKODA AUTO since July 2016. During this time, the company has developed excellently in terms of sales, earnings and return on investment. Despite the challenging pandemic year 2020, the company achieved a clearly positive operating result thanks to numerous measures. Schürmann has been with the Volkswagen Group since 1990. In 1995 he became President and CEO of Volkswagen Credit, Inc. and a member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen of America.

At Volkswagen Financial Services AG, Schürmann was General Director from 2000 to 2002 and a member of the Board of Management from January 2003. He was also the spokesman for the management of Volkswagen Bank GmbH before he was appointed to the Board of Management for Finance and IT at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles on September 1, 2008. After five years at ŠKODA AUTO, Klaus-Dieter Schürmann is returning to the Volkswagen Group as planned and taking over there new tasks.

New board team around CEO Thomas Schäfer now complete
With the appointment of Christian Schenk, the new ŠKODA AUTO Executive Board team is now complete. In addition to Michael Oeljeklaus, who has been responsible for production and logistics since August 2010, and Karsten Schnake, who has been responsible for purchasing since July 2020, Thomas Schäfer has successively restructured his management: Johannes Neft has been responsible for technical development on the board since January 2021, in March This year, with Maren Gräf as Chief Human Resources Officer and Martin Jahn as Board Member for Sales and Marketing, two more new managers with many years of experience have joined ŠKODA AUTO.