Lippstadt, 28 July 2022

Prof Dr Wolfgang Ziebart designated for chairmanship of the HELLA Shareholder Committee

• Prof Dr Wolfgang Ziebart to be elected to the Shareholder Committee, where he will take over as Chairman from Carl-Peter Forster, who is to step down from his position at the end of September 2022
• Ziebart has excellent industry expertise as well as extensive management and committee experience, enabling him to actively help continue the HELLA success story from his position on the Shareholder Committee

At its meeting today, the Shareholder Committee of HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA (“HELLA”) resolved to propose to HELLA’s Annual General Meeting on 30 September 2022 that automotive manager Prof Dr Wolfgang Ziebart be elected as independent member of the company’s Shareholder Committee. If elected, Wolfgang Ziebart is to assume the chairmanship from Carl-Peter Forster, who announced at the beginning of April 2022 that he would step down at the end of the Annual General Meeting on 30 September 2022.

“In Wolfgang Ziebart, we are nominating a very experienced manager with excellent industry expertise to fill the Shareholder Committee. He also brings many years of experience in the strategic management of technology companies, as well as in the committee work of listed companies”, says Carl-Peter Forster, Chairman of the HELLA Shareholder Committee. “With the addition of Wolfgang Ziebart, the Shareholder Committee would be excellently positioned to continue the HELLA success story.”

Wolfgang Ziebart (72) spent more than twenty years in various management positions at the automotive manufacturer BMW. A doctor of mechanical engineering, he has held various management board positions at other well-known automotive and technology companies throughout the course of his career, including Continental, Infineon and Jaguar Land Rover. Since July 2012, Ziebart has chaired the Supervisory Board of wind turbine manufacturer Nordex, and he is also Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of automotive supplier Webasto. 

The Shareholder Committee is the authoritative control and advisory body of HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA. Together with the Supervisory Board, it advises the management and rules on management actions that require approval. On the majority shareholder’s side Faurecia, Olivier Durand, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Faurecia, joined the Committee as of 14 July 2022. He succeeded Michel Favre, after the latter took over as Chairman of the HELLA Management Board on 1 July 2022, leaving the Shareholder Committee in the process. 

The Annual General Meeting of HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA takes place on 30 September 2022. Detailed information on the nomination, as well as on the other items on the agenda, will be provided in the Annual General Meeting invitation, which HELLA expects to publish in the German Federal Gazette and on the company’s website mid of August 2022.

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About HELLA

HELLA is a listed, internationally positioned automotive supplier operating under the umbrella brand FORVIA. Within this factual group, HELLA stands for high-performance lighting technology and automotive electronics. At the same time, the company covers a broad service and product portfolio for the spare parts and workshop business as well as for manufacturers of special vehicles with its Business Group Lifecycle Solutions. HELLA has 36,000 employees at more than 125 locations worldwide and generated preliminary currency and portfolio-adjusted sales of € 6.2 billion in the fiscal year 2021/2022.

About FORVIA

FORVIA comprises the complementary technology and industrial strengths of Faurecia and HELLA. With over 300 industrial sites and 77 R&D centers, 150,000 people, including more than 35,000 engineers across 40+ countries, FORVIA provides a unique and comprehensive approach to the automotive challenges of today and tomorrow. Composed of six Business Groups with 24 product lines, and a strong IP portfolio of over 14,000 patents, FORVIA is focused on becoming the preferred innovation and integration partner for OEMS worldwide. FORVIA aims to be a change maker committed to foreseeing and making the mobility transformation happen.  

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Markus Richter      HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA
Company spokesman     Rixbecker Straße 75
Tel.: +49 (0)2941 38-7545                  59552 Lippstadt / Germany