On July 17, 2013, the board of directors of Hoerbiger Holding AG gave the green light for a generational change at the top executive level of the strategic business unit drive technology. At his own request, Dr. Siegmar Schlagau, member of the Hoerbiger Group executive board and head of the strategic business unit drive technology, will relinquish all his management responsibilities at the Hoerbiger Group in several steps during the coming months.  He will be succeeded by Thomas Englmann, currently managing director of Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik GmbH, Schongau, and head of serial compressors business segment. He will be assuming responsibility for the strategic business unit drive technology in several stages beginning in September. A successor has also already been found for Englmann from within the Group: Oliver Gratzel. He is currently head of the hydraulics and pneumatics segments in the automotive comfort systems business division.

Englmann, an industrial engineer, has been an expert in the automotive business for many years. Even before he started working for Hoerbiger, he had already held several executive functions for a supplier in the industry. He has been managing director at Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik GmbH, Schongau, since 2006 and is responsible for various product categories that are developed worldwide, produced and delivered to global and local customers for many years. Over the past few years, he built up the important future markets of China and India for his Serial Compressors Business Segment.

"It's time to make room for the next generation!" says Schlagau. “It's important to me that I hand over the reins with sufficient time.” He will stay with the company as a consultant after handing over his responsibilities.

Under the leadership of Schlagau the strategic business unit was strategically repositioned through wide-reaching changes over the past few years. The systematic focus on the synchronisation technology business segment for passenger car transmissions has proven its value. New, innovative products that will once again set standards in the industry are ready for the market. The Hoerbiger CompactLINE synchronization was recently introduced. It uses a unique functional principle. It offers significant savings in weight and size, while still providing the greatest level of comfort when changing gears.

Englmann will assume responsibility for around 1,600 employees across six locations in Germany, China and Canada. “It is important to us to ensure that such a complex role can be handed over to the successor with as much care as possible”, says Dr Martin Komischke, CEO and chairman of the Hoerbiger Holding AG executive board. “For this reason, the board of directors and executive board have reached an agreement with Schlagau and Englmann under which these responsibilities will be transferred in several stages.”

This ensures a seamless transition in management for both the serial compressors business segment and at Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik GmbH. Gratzel, also an industrial engineer, will be taking over the reins there on September 1, 2013. Over the past few years, Gratzel has made a significant contribution with innovative, competitive product concepts and new strategies, to help lead this business division out of a difficult crisis.

“Thomas Englmann and Oliver Gratzel, the two executives who will be moving up into new, responsible positions, have shown what they are capable of over the past few years at the Hoerbiger Group,” says CEO Dr. Martin Komischke. Hoerbiger targets managerial staff and employees for promotion with the goal of retaining good employees at all levels in the company, to develop them and offer suitable career prospects.