(Bloomberg) —
BMW AG named production head Milan Nedeljkovic as its next chief executive officer, tapping an insider who’s playing a key role in the luxury-carmaker’s rollout of a crucial new electric-vehicle line.
Nedeljkovic, 56, will succeed current CEO Oliver Zipse, 61, in May, the company said in December. The next chief has overseen BMW’s manufacturing during the challenging shift to EVs that’s involved retooling factories to build multiple drivetrains on the same line.
The appointment is part of a broader changing of the guard across Europe’s auto industry, with rivals such as Stellantis, Renault, Volvo Car and Porsche all naming new CEOs in recent months. While some automaking peers swapped out their top executives after overly ambitious EV investments fell flat, BMW has defied critics and stuck to a flexible approach, continuing to develop combustion-engine and battery-powered vehicles.
Attractive models have helped the Bavarian automaker establish a lead over Mercedes-Benz Group AG in electric-vehicle sales and navigate slower-than-expected demand for battery cars. Even so, the company faces significant challenges, from eroding market share in China to the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which threaten a production network built around minimal trade friction.
The promotion of Nedeljkovic — who was born in the former Yugoslavia and has worked closely with Zipse — signals a smooth and orderly succession at BMW. Central to his mandate, which is set to run through 2031, will be the rollout of the Neue Klasse suite of vehicles, BMW’s biggest investment in its history. Orders for the first model, the electric iX3, have been exceeding expectations.
The architecture underpins the company’s next generation of electric models and is meant to help BMW fend off intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD Co. and Xiaomi Corp., as well as renewed pressure from Mercedes.
Nedeljkovic previously served as plant head for BMW’s first mass-produced EV, the i3 city car that debuted in 2013.
The new chief studied mechanical engineering at Germany’s prestigious RWTH Aachen and MIT in the US before earning a doctorate in engineering at Munich’s Technical University.
Rising steadily through BMW’s manufacturing ranks, he took on roles in body-shop planning, press operations and later paint and assembly management at key sites including Oxford, Regensburg and Leipzig. His reputation as a production specialist grew as he ran increasingly complex plants, culminating in his appointment as head of BMW’s flagship Munich factory — the company’s historic home — where he oversaw one of the industry’s most intricate mixed-drivetrain production operations.
“Milan Nedeljković has a proven deep understanding of technology including the deployment of humanoid robots and is therefore in our view ideally suited to lead BMW into the next decade,” Stephen Reitman, an analyst at Bernstein, said in a note.
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