After the BMW Group overhauled its design team a few months ago, another major organizational change could occur. German business newspaper Handelsblatt reports BMW will appoint a new Chairman of the Supervisory Board in May 2025. It is believed former Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter will replace Norbert Reithofer.
As you can imagine, BMW refused to comment on what would be a high-level management change. However, Handelsblatt has it on good authority it’s pretty much a done deal. According to people familiar with the matter, the Supervisory Board will hold a meeting next week. That’s when the ex-CFO will be recommended to occupy the Chairman of the Supervisory Board position.
German billionaire Stefan Quandt, who owns 25.8% of the BMW Group, has allegedly already agreed. Handelsblatt reports that Martin Kimmich, Chairman of the General Works Council and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, has also given his approval.
62-year-old Nicolas Peter joined BMW on April 1, 1991, and spent his entire career at the German luxury brand, occupying several positions. Between 1991 and 1993, he held various executive and project management functions in the finance area. From 1993 until 1996, he was a Treasurer at the BMW Coordination Center in Belgium. After that, he was appointed Group Leader for Corporate Finance, a position he occupied until 1999.
Between 1999 and 2002, Nicolas Peter was Managing Director Finance and Administration at BMW France. He oversaw BMW Sweden until 2004 before being named Head of Sales Steering, Process Development and IT (2005-2007). Subsequent jobs within the BMW Group included Head of Group Controlling (2007-2011), Head of Europe (2011-2016), and Member of the Board of Management (2017-2023).
His new role comes at an extremely important time for BMW, as the company will launch the first Neue Klasse model in 2025. The Munich-based company has said NK represents the biggest investment in its history. The iX3 crossover will be followed a year later by an i3 sedan, with at least four other EVs coming by 2028. Rumor has it the electric onslaught will also include iX5, iX6, and iX7 models, but on the CLAR platform instead. By 2030, the BMW Group believes electric vehicles will account for half of annual sales.
Source: Handelsblatt