The MANN+HUMMEL Group completed the reorganization of its management board on March 1. There will be three new general managers: Kai Knickmann will from now assume responsibility as president and general manager of the Automotive OEM business; Josef Parzhuber will be president and general manager of the Automotive Aftermarket; and Steffen Schneider will become the new president and general manager of Industrial Filtration.
The previous general manager for the Automotive and Industrial business, Manfred Wolf, handed over his areas of responsibility on March 1. Once the planned acquisition of the filtration business of the Affinia Group has been concluded, Wolf will assume a senior function there as executive chairman.
As group vice president, Knickmann has already been managing the Automotive OEM business unit since 2010. The company says the Industrial Filtration business unit also remains in capable hands as Schneider has been managing this as group vice president since 2013. In addition, as group vice president, Parzhuber has been responsible for MANN+HUMMEL’s business in the Asia-Pacific region for the past four years.
The management board will consist of seven people in the future: Alfred Weber remains president and CEO; Emese Weissenbacher maintains the responsibilities which she has held since 2015 as chief financial officer. In addition, as of Jan. 1, Filiz Albrecht was appointed as chief human resources officer and Hansjörg Herrmann as chief operations officer.
“By appointing Kai Knickmann, Josef Parzhuber and Steffen Schneider, we complete the reorganization of our management board. With the appointment of proven leaders, our shareholders and supervisory board have once again demonstrated that they rely on the qualifications and motivation of their own employees,” said Weber.
Thomas Fischer, chairman of the supervisory board, thanked Wolf, longtime member of the management board, on behalf of the entire company for his outstanding service. “In his 18 years as a managing director, Manfred Wolf has decisively influenced the fortunes of our company. Under his direction, the MANN-FILTER brand was fully restored to its former glory and gained a contemporary and sustainable position in the international automotive aftermarket business. Manfred Wolf is regarded with the highest esteem among employees, customers and shareholders.”
Knickmann has a degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in combustion engines and automotive technology, from Braunschweig University of Technology. From 1990 to 1999, Knickmann worked at Hengst Filters in Münster in a variety of management functions. He jointed MANN+HUMMEL in 1999, initially holding key positions in the development department. From 2007 until 2010, Knickmann was managing director for MANN+HUMMEL in Great Britain.
Parzhuber graduated from Passau University with a degree in business studies and learned business Chinese in Beijing. He began his professional career with Bosch in 1992. From 1995 until 2000, he built up the Automotive Aftermarket business for Bosch in China. This was followed by further senior sales and marketing positions, as well as global responsibility for the filtration product range. In 2011, Parzhuber took over as MANN+HUMMEL’s group vice president of the water filtration business unit.
Schneider completed his mechanical engineering degree from Stuttgart University as a graduate engineer in 1990. The first three years of his professional career were spent in the development department at Porsche AG. He then moved to MANN+HUMMEL, where, among other activities, he was head of sales for commercial vehicles. Schneider gained international experience as managing director between 2001 and 2006 in Mexico and between 2009 and 2012 in Spain. From 2006 to 2009, he was in charge of purchasing for Automotive Original Equipment in Ludwigsburg.
Manfred Wolf has been on the MANN+HUMMEL Management Board since 1998. The industrial manager studied business management at the University of Applied Sciences at Pforzheim. He began his professional career as an executive for Bosch. There, he worked in various management positions in the aftermarket business. In 1995, Wolf moved to MANN+HUMMEL where he managed the service business unit for three years. Wolf formally remains on the management board until June 30.
