/ 26 January 2005

BMW names new South Africa MD

BMW has announced that Wolfgang Stadler will succeed Ian Robertson as managing director of BMW South Africa on February 1 2005.

As reported late last year, Robertson will be leaving South Africa to assume the post of chairperson and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in Goodwood in the United Kingdom.

Announcing the new appointment in a statement on Wednesday, BMW said that as a mechanical engineer by training, Stadler has been with the BMW group for nearly 22 years, 13 of which were spent at the BMW Dingolfing plant, where he gained experience as a team leader on the production of numerous BMW models over the years.

From Dingolfing, he moved to Munich in 1996, where he worked as a director of production strategies and more recently as director of experimental vehicles.

Stadler is no stranger to South Africa, with considerable experience over the past two years as technical director of BMW’s South African plant at Rosslyn, near Pretoria. This experience will provide an invaluable base for his future responsibilities as managing director, BMW concluded. — I-Net Bridge