Bernhard Maier, a car man through and through, who has been closely connected to cars ever since his youth, will take over as CEO. After completing his training as a car mechanic and then obtaining his qualification as a master mechanic, he studied business management in Calw. After working for Nixdorf, Maier joined the BMW AG sales organisation in 1988, assuming various management positions at home and abroad. In June 2001, Maier joined Porsche and ran the company’s domestic sales subsidiary. In 2010, he took over the position of Board Member for Sales and Marketing. As the new ŠKODA CEO, he will continue to press ahead with developing the ŠKODA brand even further.

Bernhard Maier will take over as CEO from Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland, who in the previous years led the brand into a new dimension with its biggest growth and model campaign ever. «It wasn’t an easy decision for me to take up a new position within the group after over five eventful, successful and wonderful years,» said Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland. «ŠKODA is really very special. An essential part of this is the large ŠKODA family, as well as the brand’s power and dynamism,» said Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland.

With recent sales of over 1 million cars and presence in more than 100 markets, ŠKODA is now established as an international volume brand. With their design and modern technology, ŠKODA cars have now reached top positions in their segments. On 1 November 2015, Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland will take over all responsibility for Volkswagen Group’s newly formed North American Region (NAR), and in this role he will also be a member of the Volkswagen passenger car brand’s Board of Management.