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BMW names new CEO, chairman and head of development

Big changes are afoot in the top ranks at BMW, as the Bavarian automaker has announced not just one, but several appointments in the top floors of its towering headquarters in Munich in what the company itself is referring as "a generational change" in its leadership. The biggest change relates to the chairman of BMW's management board – German-speak for the company's chief executive officer. Effective at the end of the company's Annual General Meeting on May 13, 2015, the company will be run by Harald Kruger. The 49-year-old mechanical engineer has been with BMW since 1992 and has sat on its board since 2008, and has until now been responsible for production for the entire BMW Group. The chairmanship of the board of management currently belongs to Dr. Norbert Reithofer, whom the management is endorsing to chair the supervisory board (which Americans might call the board of directors). That role in turn is currently held by Professor Joachim Milberg, who will step down from his position in order to make way for Reithofer to take his place. Milberg is earmarked to remain with the company to oversee its corporate social responsibility and charitable activities. BMW has also announced the appointment of Klaus Frohlich to serve as its head of development with immediate effect. In his new capacity, Frohlich replaces Dr. Herbert Diess, who in turn has left Munich to take over the Volkswagen passenger car division. Below you'll find statements from both BMW and VW on their new appointments. BMW Group takes steps to initiate a generational change at the head of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board 09.12.2014 - Harald Kruger to become Chairman of the Board of Management in May 2015 - Dr. Norbert Reithofer proposed to succeed as Chairman of the Supervisory Board - Prof. Joachim Milberg to take leading role in the BMW Group's worldwide CSR activities and charitable foundations - Klaus Frohlich appointed to Board of Management with responsibility for Development Munich . At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of BMW AG took the first steps to initiate a generational change at the head of the company's Board of Management and Supervisory Board. Harald Kruger will become Chairman of the Board of Management effective the end of the Annual General Meeting on 13 May 2015. The current Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, will be put forward for election to the Supervisory Board at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

Ferrari, BMW lend expertise to Olympic bobsled, skeleton, luge

LONDON — There are plenty of reasons why the sport of bobsleigh is sometimes referred to as Formula One on ice, but few as obvious as Italy's World Cup sleds. Resplendent in Ferrari red, and with a set of team sponsor Pirelli's P-Zero tyres painted on the sides, they are even liveried to look like racing cars. Ferrari, Formula One's most glamorous and successful team, have worked with the Italian federation, whose sleds run without sponsor branding at the Olympics, since 2010 and in the run-up to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games. Former rival BMW, title sponsor of the World Cup, has long partnered the U.S. bobsleigh team, while McLaren teamed up with Britain's bob and skeleton athletes for the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. "There's always the link between the Formula One companies, or any motor company, and skeleton and bobsleigh," says Rachel Blackburn, the engineer who has been involved in Britain's skeleton program since 2006 and who used to work for McLaren. "There's the Ferrari sleds and the BMW sleds ... when we were at McLaren it kind of made a good story," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Dubai. That somewhat manufactured rivalry has died down in the years since Sochi, with McLaren no longer involved and Ferrari's presence low key. But the worlds of grand prix motor racing and sliding sports still have plenty in common. Bobsled, luge and skeleton are among the fastest of Olympic sports, with bobsleds reaching speeds over 90 mph. Drivers are subjected to gut-wrenching G-forces, and crashes can be fatal. And then there is the ongoing debate about cost controls, the direction of future rules, preserving a level playing field and obsessive secrecy — all endlessly recurring themes in Formula One. 80 mph on a tea tray Blackburn said skeleton, where riders hit 80 mph on what has glibly been compared to an oversized tea-tray, sits somewhere between Americas Cup yachts and Formula One cars in terms of speed and aerodynamics. "Applied engineering is far more interesting than the pure stuff, so when its applied to something that's fun and exciting it does make it a lot easier to solve problems," she said. "There is the Americas Cup, sailing, Formula One and the high speed ice sports as well. It's the same concept.

BMW wants to build electric SUV in the US

Tesla needs to watch its back. The all-electric Model X hasn't even hit the market yet and already, luxury competitors are gearing up to combat it. Audi is prepping an all-electric concept for Frankfurt that previews a Model X-fighting CUV, and now BMW is allegedly prepping a third member of its i sub-brand, in the form of an American-built, all-electric crossover. Germany's Wirtschaftswoche claims the plan is awaiting board approval for production in Spartanburg, where BMW already builds the entirety of its X lineup. BMW, for its part, has told Automotive News Europe that the report is simply "speculation." Speculation or no, we agree with Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst, who told Automotive News that adding a crossover to the i family is a logical move. "In our view an iSUV makes perfect sense for BMW. SUVs are in demand and given the market's reaction to Tesla's Model X so far, it seems to be a good fit for families and suburban commuters." While Audi is preparing to offer its Model X fighter by 2018, though, Ellinghorst told AN not to expect BMW's entry to the segment before then.