Porsche Engineering Names New Management Board Chair

Porsche Engineering names Peter Schafer chairman of the management board following the upcoming retirement of Malte Radmann.

Dirk Lappe remains technical managing director of the international engineering services provider based in Weissach, Germany.

Michael Steiner, board member for R&D for Porsche AG and chairman of the shareholder's committee of Porsche Engineering, says Schafer is an outstanding strategist with excellent networking and proven technical expertise.

After his mechanical engineering studies and subsequent doctorate in the field at the University of Stuttgart, Schafer worked on chassis development for Ford and Volkswagen. He moved to the Porsche Group in 2003, where he was vice president-Complete Vehicle Development and managing director-Porsche Engineering from 2004 to 2009.

Radmann retires July 31.  “Under his leadership, the company has grown significantly, successfully expanded internationally and has consistently dedicated itself to the issues of the future,” Steiner says.

In addition to handling traditional vehicle-development tasks, the company is raising its profile in the rapidly developing fields of function and software development and testing in its contract work for customers.

For this purpose, subsidiaries in Shanghai and Cluj-Napoca, Romania, were founded, the Czech subsidiary was expanded and the vehicle proving ground in Nardò, Italy, was integrated into the Porsche Group during Radmann’s tenure.

Porsche Engineering Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Porsche, operates under a policy of strict confidentiality to ensure its customers’ product strategies and brand identities are always protected.