Ralf Brandstätter (49), Volkswagen brand Board member for Procurement, has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Volkswagen brand effective August 1, 2018. In this newly-created function, Brandstätter will lead the Volkswagen brand’s operating business. At the same time, he continues as the brand’s Board member for Procurement.
Volkswagen CEO Dr. Herbert Diess said: “Ralf Brandstätter has outstanding commercial and technical expertise. In the newly-created function of COO he will make a decisive contribution to taking the Volkswagen brand further forward. I would also like to thank Frank Welsch. In addition to his extensive duties as the Volkswagen brand’s Board member for Technical Development, he also assumed many additional functions in an interim capacity to safeguard the successful leadership of brand business in a pivotal phase.”
Ralf Brandstätter was born in Brunswick on September 8, 1968. He trained as a shopfitter at the Volkswagen plant in Brunswick. He then studied industrial engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group in 1993. Following positions in international project steering in the procurement division, he became an assistant to the Board of Management in the General Secretariat of Volkswagen AG. In 1998 he took charge of metal procurement for chassis and powertrain components and was made project manager for new vehicle projects in 2003. In 2005 he moved to Spain as head of procurement. He became the member of the SEAT Executive Committee responsible for Purchasing in 2008. Brandstätter was named Head of Group Procurement Exterieur in 2010. He was appointed Head of Group Purchasing New Product Launches in 2012 and was made a General Representative of Volkswagen AG in October 2015. Brandstätter became the Volkswagen brand Board member with responsibility for Procurement in December 2015.
