Alexander Hitzinger new Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

Alexander Hitzinger (47), previously Senior Director of Hardware Engineering at Apple Inc. (USA), is the new Member of the Brand Board of Management for Technical Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles with immediate effect. He will additionally be in charge of establishing and managing the ‘Centre for autonomous driving and MaaS* activities’ within the Volkswagen Group. The acting Head of Technical Development to date, Axel Anders (57), is to take on new responsibilities within the Group.

Dr. Thomas Sedran, Chairman of the Brand Board of Management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “In Alexander Hitzinger we have recruited a renowned expert as Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Within our new brand strategy, he will be implementing our model campaign  and forcefully promoting the expansion of our competencies in the fields of electric propulsion, software development and autonomous driving. Furthermore, he will have responsibility within the Group for the newly established Centre for Autonomous Driving and Mobility as a Service.”

At the same time, Sedran thanked the previous Head of Technical Development: “Axel Anders took over this assignment provisionally at a very challenging  time and, on the basis of his many years of experience in the Group, gave the brand important ideas at the right time. I thank him on behalf of the Board of Management for the work he has performed. We wish him all the best in his future  assignments.”

Alexander Hitzinger is a graduate engineer and also has an MBA (Master ofBusiness Administration). He started his professional career in 1997 as a development engineer with Toyota Motorsport in Germany. From 2000 to 2003, he managed the development department World Rally Car (WRC) with the British engine manufacturer Cosworth, where he was in charge of the Formula 1 Development department from 2003 to 2006. During the period from 2006 to 2011, Hitzinger was Head of Advanced Technologies at Red Bull Technology (UK).

From 2011 until 2016, Hitzinger then worked at Porsche for the Le Mans World Endurance  Championship as Technical Director LMP1. In this function, he was responsible for the development of the 919 hybrid long-distance racing car. In2016, Hitzinger moved to Apple.

*MaaS: Mobility-as-a-Service. The key concept behind MaaS is to concentrate attention on users, people or goods and offer mobility solutions tailored to individual requirements.