Typically PH news doesn't focus on the comings and goings of industry bigwigs but this deserved special attention. Franciscus van Meel will be BMW M's new Chairman of the Board of Management from January 1, with former boss Dr Friedrich Nitschke stepping down after 36 years with the BMW Group.
As industry moves go it's a big one
Not heard of van Meel before? There's no real reason you should have, but his background is fascinating. His last role was as MD of Quattro GmbH from 2012 until the beginning of this year. He had been with Audi since 1996 and had 'held various management positions in chassis development and the technical steering of vehicle projects' according to BMW's press blurb. So a few highlights in that period as far as chassis development goes (
B7 RS4
R8
for example) but many less inspiring cars too.
The bigger picture is even more interesting though. It is believed van Meel fell out with Audi R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg over the R8 replacement and its development delays. The R8 E-Tron saga was also believed to be a contentious issue between the two. Having been removed from his Quattro position van Meel was originally to take a prominent role in China with Audi keen to retain him but evidently the offer wasn't to his liking. By all accounts Dr Hackenberg isn't a man to be trifled with; if you don't like his way of doing things then you know what to do it would seem...
Anyway, back to van Meel. Though we all like to deride (pun intended) fast Audis for rather lacklustre dynamics its most recent efforts (i.e under van Meel's tutelage) have been pretty good. See last year's RS6, S1 and S3 for example. He comes into an M Division on great form also with the M3/M4 extremely well received.
It all appears something of a coup for M Division and it will be intriguing to see when, or indeed if, any significant changes are implemented during next year. Keep an eye out for the swift development of the next Audi R8 too...