Oberkirch, September 1, 2020 - As previously announced on August 25, 2020, the Supervisory Board of PWO AG has appointed Carlo Lazzarini (53) of Luxembourg as a member of the Management Board with effect from today. As of September 5, 2020, he will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and be responsible for the market and technology area. His contract runs for a three-year term until August 31, 2023.

Carlo Lazzarini has 15 years of general management experience in internationally operating, innovation-driven technology companies. During this time, he gained extensive management experience in the transformation and improvement in the performance of companies through restructuring, change management and portfolio diversification. His industry expertise includes a broad range of experience in the mobility sector (automotive, commercial vehicles, buses, rail vehicles, suppliers).

He is fully aware of the high pressure to adapt the structure and the capacities of the Group's locations as a result of the global recession caused by the corona pandemic. Despite slight signs of recovery in some markets, the pre-crisis level in the automotive industry will not likely, if at all, be achieved again for several years.

In his comments, Carlo Lazzarini emphasizes PWO's opportunities amid the profound changes currently underway in the automotive industry: "With its core competencies in functional lightweight construction with the highest quality and delivery reliability, the PWO Group with its global presence is ideally positioned not only to accompany the changes in the industry over the medium and long term, but also to actively shape them. The topic of lightweight construction has enormous potential and will continue to gain importance in the mobility industry and beyond. It is therefore also one of my goals to utilize this core PWO competence across industries if possible. Personally, it is a pleasure and an honor for me to help shape the future of PWO together with my colleagues on the Management Board and the entire global team."

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Karl M. Schmidhuber, warmly welcomed the new member of the Management Board and future CEO and wished him luck in difficult times. "I can assure Carlo Lazzarini that he has the full support of the entire Supervisory Board in mastering the extensive challenges in the years ahead."

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Management Board

PWO company profile
PWO is a partner to the global automotive industry for the development and production of advanced metal components and subsystems using lightweight construction. The Group has developed a unique knowledge in the forming and joining of metals over the course of its more than 100-year history since it was founded in 1919. With our expertise in cost-efficient lightweight construction, we contribute to environmentally friendly driving and greater distances.

All of the Group's more than 1,000 products contribute to automotive comfort and safety. More than 90 percent of revenue is independent of the vehicle's type of drivetrain. Approximately 3,000 employees on three continents at five production sites and four assembly plants ensure the highest level of delivery reliability and quality.