With current Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Ralf Speth, due to retire in September, the British carmaker is actively searching for his replacement.
This week, word has it that their shortlist includes former Audi CEO Bram Schot, as well as ex-BMW development chief Klaus Froehlich, who left the Bavarian company last month. An official announcement could come as early as this week, reports Autonews Europe.
Speth’s retirement was mandated by company policy (Tata Motors), although he will become the non-executive vice-chairman of Jaguar Land Rover going forward.
Read Also: JLR Launches ‘Pivotal’ Premium Car Subscription Service
According to the Financial Times, aside from Froehlich and Schot, JLR’s shortlist also includes Nick Rogers, who is the company’s head of engineering, as well as Fred Schulze, head of production at Audi’s home plant in Ingolstadt, Germany. As per the same report, FCA boss Mike Manley (another rumored replacement for Speth at JLR), was left off the shortlist.
Froehlich and Schot both left their respective employers this year. The latter also held the title of sales and marketing chief, before taking over as interim CEO for Audi after German prosecutors detained former chief executive Rupert Stadler for his alleged role in the dieselgate scandal.
In April, Schot was replaced as Audi CEO by former BMW exec Markus Duesmann.
It’s quite clear by now that JLR’s shortlist only includes executives that used to work for other premium carmakers, which has been the British brand’s hiring theme ever since it was purchased by Tata Motors from Ford back in 2008.
