BMW Names Zipse as New CEO

Oliver Zipse has been named BMW AG’s new CEO, effective Aug. 16. His selection was widely expected.

Zipse, 55, will replace Harald Krueger, who said earlier this month he would not seek to extend his contract. BMW’s supervisory board made the selection during a meeting at the company’s giant SUV production complex in Spartanburg, S.C.

Zipse, who also will become chairman of BMW’s management board, joined BMW in 1991 as a trainee. He currently heads manufacturing, and formerly was senior vice president of corporate planning and product strategy.

His primary task will be to shepherd BMW’s electrification programs and the software capabilities to support them. Krueger has been criticized for squandering BMW’s early lead in electric vehicles after the pricy i3 city car introduced in 2013 failed to sell well.

Krueger’s reluctance to commit to further EV programs prompted several of BMW’s EV experts, including the head of its “i” electric vehicle unit, to leave the company.