MINI Announces New Global Leadership

[DimON]

Stefan Richmann is taking over for Stefanie Wurst as the head of the MINI brand globally. Given all that’s happening at MINI with the complete turn-over in its range, the change seems a bit shocking at first. Is there more here than just a press release or is this business as usual?

BMW cycles through senior leadership often as a strategy to make its leaders well rounded and familiar with various parts of the BMW Group. We would bet that this is one of those typical BMW transitions. Some will point to Stefanie Wurst’s tenure lasting less than two years which seems a bit short than most. But we’d expect that has to do with internal timing rather than any other motives. You can even read her announcement on LinkedIn for yourself.

Stephan Wurst oversaw a massive product transition for MINI over the last 12 months as well as introduced direct sales to China and Europe. And that’s just scratching the surface as you’ll see in the official release below.

MINI’s new leader Stefan Richmann has a vast amount of experience throughout BMW. With a focus on strategy and finance, he’s spent time in the US as the BMWNA CFO and most recently was head of BMW Group’s Corporate Strategy in total. We look forward to seeing what he has in store for MINI.

In the meantime join us in saying thanks for all the hard work Stefanie Wurst has accomplished during her tenure at MINI.

HyperFocal: 0

Official Press Release: Change in leadership at MINI brand

The BMW Group has announced a change in personnel at the helm of the MINI brand. Effective 1 August 2024, Stefan Richmann will take over management of MINI from Stefanie Wurst, who has held this position since 1 February 2022. 

In recent years, Stefanie Wurst has strategically successfully focused the British premium brand MINI on new markets and target groups, and in particular on electric mobility and digitalization. She has also developed the international MINI sales organisation into a sustainable and customer-focused sales model and has played a decisive role in the phased introduction of MINI direct sales in China and Europe.

Wurst built on the MINI brand’s strong heritage, while at the same time realigning it for the future. With the rollout of the New MINI Family, the brand is currently at a high point in its 65-year history. Three models with strong characters, the MINI Cooper*, MINI Aceman* and MINI Countryman*, embody the digitalisation of products and services, electrification of the brand and MINI’s signature go-kart feeling.

Jochen Goller, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands, Sales: “We would like to thank Stefanie Wurst for her great personal commitment and her valuable contribution to MINI’s future direction. With Stefan Richmann, a senior executive of the BMW Group with many years of experience in Germany and abroad, will take over the management of the MINI brand from August.”

Richmann began his career at the BMW Group in 1997. Since then, he has held numerous managerial positions within the company. In 2000, he moved to Corporate Strategic Planning and, in 2004, was appointed head of Sales Controlling. From 2008, Richmann was responsible for the finances of BMW Spain as CFO. He returned to Munich at the end of 2010, where he fulfilled several further management roles in the Finance and Controlling division and Product Management at BMW Group headquarters. From 2017, Richmann served as CFO in the US. In April 2022, he took over as head of the Corporate Strategy division. 

The post MINI Announces New Global Leadership appeared first on MotoringFile.

View the full article