Harald Krüger is a German manager who served as the chairman of the board of management for BMW; he was to be replaced on 16 August 2019 by Oliver Zipse, after he declined to be considered for contract renewal in 2020.
Krüger first worked as research assistant at the "Institute for Dynamics of Flight Systems" of the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen from 1991 to 1992.
BMW
Krüger joined BMW in 1992 in the Technical Planning/Production division. From 1993 to 1995 he then worked as a project engineer in the construction of the BMW plant Spartanburg. From 1995 to 1997 he was a personnel officer for experimental vehicle construction at the Munich "Research and Innovation Center". From 1997 to 2000, Krüger oversaw and managed the department "Strategic Production Planning". In 2000 he was appointed as head of department "Production Strategies and Communications". And as of 2003 he headed the engine production in the British BMW plant Hams Hall. From 2007 to 2008, Krüger was the head of technical integration. On 1 December 2008 Krüger was appointed to the BMW board of management, responsible for the Human Resources Department. He was the youngest board member of BMW at the time. In 2009, BMW became the first DAX company to link the salary of factory workers and the management salary. Krüger stated: "We're making sure that the pay gap doesn't open any further." In July 2012, Krüger then assumed responsibility for MINI, Motorrad, Rolls-Royce and after-sales. In April 2013, Krüger was named board member for production. Krüger ascended to the CEO role on 13 May 2015, succeeding Norbert Reithofer. He was compensated €8,134,963 in 2016. During his time in office, Krüger notably accompanied ChancellorAngela Merkel on her first visit to U.S. President Donald Trump in March 2017. The company said on 5 July 2019 that Krüger did not plan to seek an extension of his contract with BMW when it expires in late April 2020; the press release quoted Krüger as stating that he planned to pursue "new professional endeavors". During his tenure, competitor Mercedes-Benz became the new leader in the global luxury automobile market. As well, there had been some criticism within BMW as to his failure to move more aggressively in developing new models in the BMW i electric vehicle series. On 18 July 2019, the company's supervisory board announced that Oliver Zipse would replace Krüger effective 16 August 2019.
