Musical chairs at Bentley Motors

Wolfgang Dürheimer returns to Bentley Motors this time as chairman and chief executive officer from 1 June.

Dürheimer, currently general representative of the Volkswagen Group, succeeds Dr Wolfgang Schreiber who is to “take up a leading position” within the Volkswagen Group. 

After 18 months in the job, Schreiber can point to achievements at Bentley. Under his stewardship, Bentley last year set new records in deliveries, sales and profit.

Bentley delivered 10,120 vehicles, 19 per cent more than in 2012, while sales grew 15.5 per cent to €1.68 billion. However, profits rose two-thirds to €167.7 million. In the first quarter of 2014, Bentley boosted deliveries by a further 17 percent.

Dürheimer (55), with a degree in engineering, started his career with BMW in 1986. He remained with BMW for 12 years, holding various management positions. In 1999, he switched to Porsche AG, where he became board member for research and development in 2001. He is credited with new models that significantly strengthened the Porsche brand.

In 2011, Dürheimer moved to his first senior post in VW – namely, CEO of Bentley Motors and Bugatti. In September 2012, he became a member of the board of management of Audi AG, where he was responsible for technical development. After stepping down from this position, he is to be appointed to the Volkswagen Group committees responsible for the USA and China markets in addition to heading the Bentley and Bugatti brands. In his new functions, he will be contributing the experience he has gained throughout the Group.

Schreiber (56) holds a degree in engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group in 1984 and has enjoyed a varied career. From 1996 to 2003, he was head of transmission development of the Volkswagen brand. Products created under his leadership include the DSG transmission.

In 2003, he transferred to Bugatti, where he was head of development until 2011. In September 2006, he was also appointed member of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles responsible for development; he was speaker of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles from 2010.

Since September 2012, Schreiber successfully has managed Bentley Motors as chairman and CEO and Bugatti as president.                                                  ∎