BMW appoints Joachim Post as Board Member for Development
Officially, with these decisions the Supervisory Board has ‘set the personnel course to ensure the company’s future leadership in the areas of innovation and technology’. What is not mentioned in the company’s press release: According to the ‘Handelsblatt’ newspaper, Post is said to be ‘a promising candidate as successor to CEO Oliver Zipse’ – which is why there is talk in Group circles of a ‘trend-setting’ decision.
The background to the personnel shake-up is not dissatisfaction with the current Chief Technical Officer, but the internal BMW age limit for members of the Board. At BMW, board members generally retire at the age of 60 – or only sign one-year contracts after that. However, the Supervisory Board made an exception for CEO Oliver Zipse: Zipse will be 62 years old when his contract ends in 2026.
There was no exception for Frank Weber, however. Weber took over the position in 2020 and is now reaching this age limit. “Frank Weber and the entire development division have delivered an exceptional job in recent years to develop BMW’s central future project into series production readiness: the Neue Klasse. Frank Weber deserves our sincere gratitude for this achievement,” said Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. “We wish him all the best for the future. And together with the Board of Management of BMW AG, we are very much looking forward to the launch of the Neue Klasse at the end of this year.”
Joachim Post has been with BMW since 2002 and was appointed to the Board of Management in January 2022 – with responsibility for Purchasing and Supplier Network. The 53-year-old took on this critical position in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic with extremely volatile supply chains and, above all, the industry-wide shortage of semiconductors – and did his job well as a crisis manager. As a result, BMW came through the crisis better than Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
Before joining the Board of Management, Post held numerous positions at BMW and knows the company very well. Among other things, he was previously Head of Product Line Midsize BMW in the Development department and Head of Vehicle Strategy, but he also held positions of responsibility in the China joint ventures and was also responsible for the cooperation with Toyota. “Joachim Post has demonstrated his extensive technological expertise and management experience in recent years,” said Reithofer.
Even though Post is rumoured to be Zipse’s successor, according to the Handelsblatt report, it is not yet certain that he will actually take over as CEO in the summer of 2026. Board Member for Production Milan Nedeljkovic (56) and Head of Human Resources Ilka Horstmeier (55) are also being touted as candidates – however, Post is the youngest of the three and could hold the CEO position until he reaches retirement age.
Nicolai Martin was appointed to the Board of Management of BMW AG as Joachim Post’s successor on 1 June. He is currently Head of the BMW-Rolls-Royce luxury class product line and previously held various management positions within the development department. After holding positions in the areas of complete vehicle and powertrain, he headed the Driving Experience division, which bundles the development of driving dynamics, all functionalities of the chassis and automated driving. “With Nicolai Martin, another passionate engineer joins the Board of Management of BMW AG,” says Reithofer about the appointment. “With his additional business expertise, he is the right candidate for the Purchasing and Supplier Network Division.”
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