BMW Group said its Supervisory Board has appointed Raymond Wittmann, currently head of Corporate Strategy and Development, to the company’s Board of Management.
Wittmann is expected to assume responsibility for BMW’s production division at the company’s Annual General Meeting in May. The move comes as current production chief Milan Nedeljković prepares to succeed Oliver Zipse as chairman of the board.
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The appointment follows earlier confirmation that BMW would need to fill the production board position after Nedeljković’s planned leadership transition.
Wittmann, 47, has worked at BMW since 2015 and has led the company’s Corporate Strategy and Development unit since 2024. During his tenure with the automaker, he has held several management roles across production, finance, and operations.
His previous positions include head of assembly at BMW’s Munich plant, chief financial officer for the Americas sales region, and project manager for establishing the company’s manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
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Although Wittmann has already joined the Board of Management, he will formally assume oversight of the production division around the time of the Annual General Meeting. Until then, he will work closely with Nedeljković during the transition period.
“Raymond Wittmann combines strategic thinking with operational excellence and business responsibility,” said Nicolas Peter. “With his broad, cross-divisional experience and international perspective, he has the key qualities for leading the production division.”
Peter added that Wittmann’s appointment strengthens the future management team led by Nedeljković. “The Supervisory Board is very confident that the Board of Management, in its new composition, will continue to drive the success of the BMW Group in the future,” he said.
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Wittmann is expected to oversee the continued rollout of BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, the automaker’s next-generation electric vehicle architecture. The platform introduces new battery technologies and a redesigned electronic architecture built around centralized computing systems.
Production of the Neue Klasse vehicles has already begun at BMW’s new factory in Debrecen, Hungary, where series production of the iX3 has started. Meanwhile, the company’s Munich plant is preparing to shift from pre-series production of the i3 to full-scale manufacturing later this year.
Wittmann will also supervise the rollout of the Neue Klasse production system at additional BMW plants worldwide, including the San Luis Potosí facility in Mexico that he previously helped establish.
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The production leadership role at BMW has historically been seen as a stepping stone to the company’s top executive position. Former production chief Norbert Reithofer, who served as CEO from 2006 to 2015, previously held the same role.
