BMW AG has appointed Dr. Raymond Wittmann to its Board of Management, where he will take over responsibility for Production — a role that has been held by Milan Nedeljkovic for the past several years as he steered the company’s manufacturing operations through a period of significant upheaval, including supply chain disruptions, the shift to electric vehicle production, and the retooling of major plants.
Nedeljkovic, who joined BMW’s board in 2019, will transition to the chairmanship following the Annual General Meeting on May 13, leaving behind a production division that is mid-transformation. His successor inherits a network of factories navigating the dual pressures of electrification and cost efficiency — a challenge that will define BMW’s competitive position over the next decade.
Wittmann, 47, has spent the last decade moving across different parts of the business, which may be the point. He ran assembly at the Munich plant, managed finances for the Americas sales region, and led the establishment of the San Luis Potosà facility in Mexico. More recently he has been overseeing corporate strategy. The breadth of that background — operational, financial, international — suggests BMW is looking for someone who can manage production not just as a logistics function, but as a strategic lever.
He holds a PhD in aerospace engineering and worked as a partner at the Mckinsey & Company consultancy before joining BMW in 2015, bringing an outside perspective that his board career has since tempered with hands-on manufacturing experience.
The transition comes as BMW faces mounting pressure to accelerate its EV rollout while keeping margins intact — a balancing act that will fall squarely on Wittmann’s desk from day one.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
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