Changes in Human Resources at the Volkswagen Group

Josef Schelchshorn (54), latterly Executive Vice-President Human Resources at SEAT S.A., has been appointed Board member for Human Resources at MAN SE and MAN Truck Bus effective July 1, 2015. He succeeds Jochen Schumm (67), who is taking retirement. Schelchshorn’s successor as Executive Vice-President Human Resources at the SEAT brand effective September 1, 2015, is Xavier Ros (44), currently Human Resources Director at Volkswagen Autoeuropa.

Josef Schelchshorn began his career in 1978 as a commercial apprentice with AUDI AG. He worked in human resources at Audi from 1982, studying part-time to obtain a degree in business economics in 1986. In 1993 he became a specialist project manager at Audi Hungaria Motor Kft., and took charge of human resources there as the departmental head two years later. In 1997 Schelchshorn moved to the post of assistant to the Board member for human resources at AUDI AG. He returned to Audi Hungaria in 2000 as HR director and member of the management board, before taking up an appointment as head of human resources in the production division in Ingolstadt in 2001. Schelchshorn became human resources manager for Audi’s Ingolstadt plant in March 2003. He was appointed Executive Vice-President Human Resources at the SEAT brand in 2010. In addition to his responsibilities as Board member for Human Resources at MAN, Josef Schelchshorn will also lead the Corporate HR cross-divisional function at Volkswagen Truck Bus GmbH, thus coordinating closer interaction between the holding’s truck and bus brands.

Xavier Ros holds a degree in mechanical engineering. The Spaniard began his career in 1994, working in logistics planning at AUDI AG. Following a position in Audi product management, Ros moved to product management at SEAT S.A. in 1999, before being appointed secretary general in 2002 and subsequently taking charge of personnel strategy and personnel development in 2007. Ros was named head of personnel at SEAT in 2011, and moved to Volkswagen Autoeuropa in Portugal as Human Resources Director in 2013.

Jochen Schumm is ending a successful career with the Volkswagen Group after 51 years of service. Dr. Horst Neumann, Board Member for Human Resources at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, paid tribute to Schumm’s achievements: “We would like to thank Mr. Schumm for his long-standing commitment. He always sought to find a good balance between competitiveness and employment in the interests of the company and its workforce, and therefore made a lasting contribution to our company’s success.”

Schumm completed a commercial apprenticeship at Volkswagen AG in Hanover between 1964 and 1967. From 1970 to 1982, he worked in human resources and welfare at Volkswagen AG in Salzgitter. He went on to hold various management positions at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg from 1982 to 1986, with the last being as head of the payroll department in human resources and welfare. Schumm then moved to SEAT S.A. in Spain, where he was the head of human resources and welfare services from 1986 to 1989. From 1989 through 1994, Schumm held various human resources management functions at Volkswagen AG in Brunswick and Wolfsburg, which included responsibility for the central collective bargaining and human resources strategy function and for central human resources and collective bargaining. He was chief human resources officer at SEAT S.A. from 1994 through 1996. 1997 through 2000 saw him as head of human resources at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg and in 1999 he also became head of the services business unit. Between 2000 and 2011, he was the chief human resources officer of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand in Hanover and in 2008 also assumed the additional role of head of human resources for Volkswagen Passenger Cars Germany in Wolfsburg. From January to May 2012 he was general representative for Group human resources at Volkswagen AG, before being appointed Board member for Human Resources and Labour Relations Director at MAN Truck Bus AG in Munich in June 2012. Schumm assumed the additional role of Chief Human Resources Officer and Labour Relations Director at MAN SE in Munich in July 2012.