Prof. Dr. Dr. E. h. Jochem Heizmann

Prof. Dr. Dr. E. h. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, 'Group Commercial Vehicles' Division, will speak in his lecture "With innovation and quality in the fast lane. How can Germany remain the number 1 automobile nation?" on strategies and methods to increase the success of the company and the industry for Germany with a leading global automobile manufacturer.

The Volkswagen Group, headquartered in Wolfsburg, is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest car producer in Europe. In 2009, the Group increased deliveries of vehicles to customers to 6.336 million, which corresponds to a global passenger car market share of 11.3 percent.

The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG appointed Prof. Dr. Dr. E. h. Jochem Heizmann as a member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG for the "Group Commercial Vehicles" division with effect from October 1, 2010.

Prof. Dr. Dr. E. h. Heizmann was responsible for the "Group Production" division as a member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG from February 1, 2007 to September 30, 2010. In addition, Heizmann was responsible for the "Production and Logistics" division as a member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2009. He was also the member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG responsible for the projects in Russia and India as well as the construction of the new factories in the USA and China.

Jochem Heizmann was born on January 31, 1952 in Speyer/Rhine.

After leaving school in Speyer, he studied industrial engineering at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) until 1975, where he then worked as a research assistant and obtained his doctorate in 1980. Jochem Heizmann worked as a senior engineer with various teaching assignments and as a freelance management consultant at the University of Karlsruhe until early 1982.

Jochem Heizmann started his career in the automotive industry in 1982 at Audi NSU AUTO UNION AG in Ingolstadt. There, he was initially appointed Head of the Work Systems department. Further management positions followed until 1991, such as Head of the Technology Development Department and subsequently Head of the Assembly Department (vehicle production).

Jochem Heizmann joined Volkswagen AG in October 1991 and initially took over as Head of Central Planning for Power Unit Construction in Wolfsburg. In August 1993, he was appointed Head of Production Planning for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand.

There, Jochem Heizmann was responsible for the planning, preparation for series production and commissioning of production facilities for new vehicles and units worldwide. This area of responsibility also included tool and fixture construction at Volkswagen Wolfsburg.

On January 1, 2000, Jochem Heizmann was appointed Managing Director Technology and Spokesman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH and Volkswagen Sachsen Immobilienverwaltung GmbH. In this function, Jochem Heizmann was responsible for the vehicle plant in Zwickau and the engine plant in Chemnitz.

From February 2001 to the end of January 2007, Jochem Heizmann was responsible for the Production division on the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

Jochem Heizmann was appointed visiting professor at Tongji University Shanghai on March 16, 2004. On December 1, 2006, Heizmann was appointed Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology. On October 14, 2010, Heizmann received an honorary doctorate Dr.-Ing. E. h. from Chemnitz University of Technology.

Status: Beginning of 2011