Brand CEO of the Year: Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller Awarded “Eurostar 2019”

Rüsselsheim. Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller has been honoured by the renowned industry magazine Automotive News Europe as Brand CEO of the Year with the “Eurostar 2019”. With the award, the respected trade publication honours the comeback of the Opel brand under the leadership of Lohscheller, who is the first Opel CEO in history to receive the “Eurostar” award.

“This award is a great honour for me personally, but above all a special tribute to our entire team, which has done great things in the past few months. Every day at Opel we work hard to strengthen the comeback and the profile of our tradition-rich brand. We can be proud of what we have achieved as part of Groupe PSA and we will make our Blitz logo shine even brighter,” said Michael Lohscheller.

Following the takeover of Opel by Groupe PSA in the summer of 2017, the management team led by Michael Lohscheller developed – on their own – a comprehensive restructuring plan called PACE!. The overarching goals: with PACE! Opel will become sustainably profitable, global and electric. The consistent implementation of this plan under Lohscheller meant that Opel was able to achieve a recurring operating income of €859 million in 2018 – the highest operating profit in the 157-year company history after nearly 20 years of losses. In the first half of 2019, Opel was able to further improve its results and achieved an operating income of €700 million in a difficult environment for the entire industry.

“Opel has had numerous CEOs in recent years – half a dozen since the turn of the century alone. However, Michael Lohscheller turned being the first one who, after developing a comprehensive plan, not only delivered, but so far even over delivered,” said Luca Ciferri, Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at Automotive News Europe.

Michael Lohscheller has been Opel CEO since June 2017. Previously, since September 2012, he was Chief Financial Officer. Michal Lohscheller has more than 20 years of experience in various companies in the automotive industry, where he worked in several areas. Lohscheller, born on November 12, 1968, studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Germany, and at the University of Barcelona, Spain. From 1993 to 1996, he studied European Marketing Management and earned a Master of Arts (MA) degree at Brunel University, London, UK. He is married, has two children and is a passionate long-distance runner who has already successfully completed 110 marathons.

Automotive News Europe is one of the world's leading automotive magazines and has been in Europe since 1996. The magazine has been presenting the annual “Eurostar” awards since 1998. According to the jury, the award honours “the best of the best” from all areas of the automotive industry. For example, the winners included Groupe PSA CEO, Carlos Tavares (as “Group CEO” in 2017).

Michael Lohscheller will accept the award at the “Eurostars” gala on the eve of the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, where Opel will present the newest generation of its bestseller, the Corsa.

Contact

Michael Göntgens
Director Internal & Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 6142/7-72 279
Mobile: +49 160 48 28 317
michael.goentgens@opel.com

Nico Schmidt
Group Manager Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 6142/7-78 325
Mobile: +49 151 21 54 53 87
nico.schmidt@opel.com