Laura Carnicero and Markus Haupt have been appointed new Member of the Board of Management for People and Organization and new Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at SEAT S.A., respectively, strengthening the company’s leadership team to face the biggest transformation in the organization’s history.
Laura Carnicero, currently Director of Personnel at SEAT S.A., succeeds Xavier Ros and has the challenge of driving SEAT S.A.’s cultural change to face the transformation of the company towards electrification and CUPRA’s growth in the coming years. She will take up her new post on July 1. Markus Haupt, currently President of Volkswagen Navarra, will join SEAT S.A. on September 1. In his new role he will promote production synergies between the Volkswagen Group’s factories in the Iberian Peninsula (Martorell, Pamplona and Palmela in Portugal). The executive will replace Herbert Steiner who is leaving the company to undertake new professional challenges.
An engineer with a passion for people
Laura Carnicero holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Her experience in the automotive sector dates back to 1999 when she joined SEAT S.A. and, a year later, she moved to the Volkswagen Group headquarters to join the laser welding research team. In 2001, Carnicero returned to Barcelona and began a career of internal development occupying different positions within the company, where her experience and leadership in technical areas, such as production and product planning, stood out.
In 2015, Carnicero took a radical turn in her professional career and joined the Human Resources department as Head of Training and Development at SEAT S.A., where she was also Director of the Apprentices School. During this period, Carnicero drove the transformation programme towards Industry 4.0 to ensure that employees have the necessary skills and tools for the professional profiles of the future. In addition, she implemented the “Always Learning” continuous training programme for the entire workforce with great success. For the past two years, she has been the company’s Director of Personnel. Under her leadership, she has initiated the cultural change across the organisation through different strategies that are taking place throughout the company and directed to the 15,000 employees.
“Laura Carnicero is a strong leader with proven experience in our company. Her appointment is a recognition of her work and achievements and the internal talent we have at SEAT S.A. People are the most important driving force behind our organization. I am convinced that Laura is personally committed to SEAT and to the transformation of our company,” emphasised Wayne Griffiths, President of SEAT S.A.
Regarding Haupt’s incorporation, Griffiths said that “Markus is an expert in production and in processes, and he knows SEAT very well. I am pleased that he has accepted the challenge of electrifying the company and he has a clear commitment of making Spain a future hub for electromobility in Europe. Markus is one experienced professional in the Volkswagen Group and is motivated to drive this change towards electrification in Martorell.”
A career between Spain and Germany
Markus Haupt trained in business management in Barcelona and has more than 20 years of international experience in the Volkswagen Group, where he began his professional career in 2001. During his early years at SEAT and Audi, Haupt specialised in prototypes, until 2004, when he returned to the Spanish company as Head of Process and Project Management for SEAT Preseries, where he played a decisive role in the launch of the Audi Q3 at the Martorell plant.
Haupt has led major production projects such as the Volkswagen Group’s AO class in Wolfsburg, Germany and the successful series launch of the T-Roc in Palmela, Portugal. In recent years, and until his return to SEAT S.A., Haupt has had the opportunity to drive the Group-wide shift in production towards electric mobility, as President of Volkswagen Navarra S.A. and General Manager of the Pamplona plant.
SOURCE: SEAT
