On March 1, 2016, the MANN+HUMMEL Group completes the reorganization of its Management Board. There will be three new General Managers. Kai Knickmann assumes responsibility as General Manager of the Automotive OEM business unit. Josef Parzhuber will be General Manager of the Automotive Aftermarket business unit and Steffen Schneider will become the new General Manager of the Industrial Filtration business unit. The previous General Manager for the Automotive and Industrial business, Manfred Wolf has 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, Kai Knickmann has already been managing the Automotive OEM business unit since 2010. The Industrial Filtration business unit also remains in capable hands. Steffen Schneider has been managing this as Group Vice President since 2013. Josef Parzhuber also takes on a new and different role as head of Automotive Aftermarket. As Group Vice President, he has been responsible for MANN+HUMMEL’s business in the Asia-Pacific region for the past four years.
The Management Board will thus in future consist of seven people, Alfred Weber remains President & CEO, Emese Weissenbacher maintains the responsibilities which she has held since 2015 as Director of Finance. Finally, as of January 1, 2016, Filiz Albrecht has been appointed as Human Resources Director and Hansjörg Herrmann as Production Director.
“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 Alfred Weber.
Thomas Fischer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, thanked longtime member of the Management Board Wolf 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. Mr. Wolf is regarded with the highest esteem among employees, customers, and shareholders.”
Kai 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, Mr. Knickmann was Managing Director for MANN+HUMMEL in Great Britain.
Josef Parzhuber graduated from Passau University with a degree in business studies and learned business Chinese in Beijing. He began his profession 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.
Steffen 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 qualified 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.