AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/12 Report--

On March 9, the day BMW Group announced its financial summary indicators for the year 2022, the group's financial management structure also ushered in a new personnel change. BMW announced that Nicolas Peter, the group's chief financial officer, was stepping down and that 49-year-old Walter Mertl would take over as chief financial officer (CFO). The personnel change will take effect on May 12, 2023, and Dr. Nicholas Peter, 60, will retire after the annual general meeting on May 11, 2023.

It is understood that Walter Myrtle joined the BMW Group in 1998 and has held management positions in finance, sales and control in Germany and the UK, including the core functions of group reporting, corporate accounting and corporate control (Corporate Controlling). In recent years, he has become the head of the control department of the BMW Group. After taking over as CFO, Walter Myrtle will be responsible for overseeing the company's financial position.

Walter Myrtle (Walter Mertl)

As for the retiring Dr. Peter, who has served in the BMW Group for more than 30 years, he has a lot of experience. Dr. Peter joined BMW Group in 1991 and has held the position of CFO of BMW Group since January 2017 and has been in this position for more than six years. Since August 2020, Dr. Peter has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt. During his tenure, Dr. Peter not only allowed BMW Group to reduce costs, but also targeted to improve profitability, while also launched BMW's progress in electrification and digitization.

Nicholas Peter (Nicolas Peter)

Affected by previous outbreaks and supply chain disruptions, the development of the automobile industry has been particularly difficult in the past few years. Although there has been a downward trend in sales, under the leadership of Dr. Peter, BMW Group still has a number of business indicators that have reached record highs, including a year-on-year increase in net profit of 223.1% to 12.463 billion euros in 2021. According to the latest financial report of BMW Group, in the last year when Dr. Peter was in charge of fiscal power, BMW Group's total revenue in 2022 exceeded 142.6 billion euros (about 10525 yuan), an increase of 28.2 percent over the same period last year. Pre-tax profit was 23.509 billion euros, an increase of 46.4 percent over the same period last year; and net profit was 18.582 billion euros (137.15 billion yuan), a substantial increase of 49.1 percent over the same period last year. In addition, the research and development cost of BMW Group totaled 6.624 billion euros in 2022, an increase of 5.2% over the same period last year, mainly used in the research and development of new models, sixth-generation BMWeDrive electric drive technology and digital fields, especially in artificial intelligence, autopilot, human-computer interaction and so on.

Chipze, chairman of BBA, said the positive financial development benefited from improved pricing and positive product mix effects, as well as the full integration of brilliance BMW, a joint venture in China. As for new car sales, the BMW Group sold 2.399 million vehicles in 2022, of which pure electric model sales rose 107.7 per cent to 215000 vehicles, accounting for 9 per cent of the group's global sales. Segmented into the Chinese market, BMW China leads Mercedes-Benz and Audi with sales of 790000 vehicles, becoming the top seller in the BBA, with the rapid growth of pure electric models, with sales of 41886 vehicles in 2022, up 91.6 per cent from the same period last year.

Now that Dr Peter has reached the age limit for members of BMW's executive board, he is about to leave. At present, BMW is developing a new electric vehicle platform to compete with competitors such as Tesla and Mercedes-Benz for market share. Walter Myrtle, 49, will take over the position based on BMW's development strategy. Provide financial support for BMW's future self-driving and electric vehicle research and development. In addition, when the price of the car market remains the same or even continues to decline, cost control is particularly important, which means that Walter Myrtle needs to constantly optimize cost control.

According to sources close to BMW in Germany, Walter Myrtle is very familiar with the operation of BMW, especially the financial data and strategic development deployment of the BMW Group. In fact, Walter Myrtle can be regarded as an "old man" of the BMW Group, and his richest experience is basically based on the BMW career. For nearly three decades, Walter Myrtle has gradually become a major participant and internal senior manager in BMW's major projects.

Dr Peter, the outgoing financial officer, believes that Baodi will continue to benefit from demand for electric cars and more "grade" models in 2023, aiming to increase pure electric vehicle sales to 15 per cent of the group's total sales. In the strong development of electric cars and digital technology, BMW's financial data will continue to improve, which is also BMW at the corporate level to ease the pressure on Walter Myrtle.

On this personnel change, Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the BMW Supervisory Board, said: "for more than 20 years, Walter Myrtle has held a number of management positions in the finance, sales and marketing departments of the BMW Group, demonstrating very comprehensive business expertise and leadership. Over the years, he has demonstrated the company's commitment to sustainable profitability during the transition period. Many of Walter Myrtle's previous successes in management qualify him to be a member of the future management committee responsible for finance. The board of supervisors believes that Walter Mertl will further strengthen the company's focus on financial strength. "

According to the plan, BMW will go all out to electrify in 2023, with the goal of increasing pure electric model sales to 15% of the group's total sales. More than 2 million pure electric vehicles will be delivered worldwide by the end of 2025, and the BMW "New Generation" model will further accelerate the market penetration of pure electric models. By 2030, 50 per cent of sales will come from pure electric models, with a cumulative sales of 10 million electric vehicles. At that time, BMW Group's Rolls-Royce, MINI brand and other series will also be fully electrified.

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