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Press Release

Change at Volkswagen Procurement: Karsten Schnake succeeds Dirk Große-Loheide

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Oliver Keppler
Oliver Keppler
Volkswagen Group Communications Spokesperson Human Resources
+49 (0) 152 5887 2530 oliver.keppler@volkswagen.de
Change at Volkswagen Procurement: Karsten Schnake succeeds Dirk Große-Loheide
Karsten Schnake will become the new member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Procurement and a member of the Extended Executive Committee
  • Karsten Schnake will become the new member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Procurement and a member of the Extended Executive Committee effective November 1, 2025. He comes from Škoda, where he was likewise in charge of the Procurement function.
  • He succeeds Dirk Große-Loheide, who will leave the company under a long-planned retirement program.
  • In addition to his new duties, Karsten Schnake will continue as acting Board Member for Procurement at Škoda until December 31, 2025, to ensure a seamless transition.

Wolfsburg. Karsten Schnake will become the new member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Procurement and a member of the Extended Executive Committee effective November 1, 2025. He thus succeeds Dirk Große-Loheide, who is leaving the company under a long-planned retirement program. In addition to his new duties, Karsten Schnake will continue as acting Board Member for Procurement at Škoda until December 31, 2025, to ensure a seamless transition.

#Innovation #Strategy

Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, comments: “In challenging times Dirk Große-Loheide has realigned Procurement and developed a forward-looking procurement strategy.

I would like to express my special thanks to him for the impulses he has given the Volkswagen Group. I’m very pleased that Karsten Schnake is his successor. He will successfully continue on this path thanks to his substantial experience and expertise.”

Thomas Schäfer, the CEO of the Volkswagen brand and member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, said: “I thank Dirk Große-Loheide for his commitment and am delighted that Karsten Schnake is taking on responsibility for procurement for the Group, the Brand Group Core and the Volkswagen brand. Thanks to his many international positions, he has in-depth brand and regional expertise and has already successfully established many new business areas. This means that Karsten brings with him the very know-how we need for the next steps in our transformation.”

Karsten Schnake began his career in 1996 at the Volkswagen Group at the Project Management division in Wolfsburg. He was Head of Procurement at Volkswagen Group Italy for two years and then gained extensive experience in global series coordination as well as in capacity, cost, and process management in Wolfsburg. At Volkswagen Group China, he was Executive Vice President responsible for strategic procurement and for controlling the procurement activities of all Group brands in the country. Karsten Schnake has been a member of the Board of Management responsible for Procurement at Škoda Auto since July 2020.

Dirk Große-Loheide has been with the Volkswagen Group since 1990. He began his career in machine procurement in Wolfsburg, followed by executive functions at SEAT, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen de México. From 2014, he took on key tasks in Group Procurement and joined MAN Truck & Bus and the Volkswagen Truck & Bus Group as a member of the Board of Management in 2017. In 2019, he returned to Volkswagen AG and became a member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, later becoming member of the Board of Management responsible for Procurement and IT at Audi. Dirk Große-Loheide has been a member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Procurement and a member of the Extended Executive Committee since January 2023.

Škoda will announce in due course who will be responsible for the procurement division as of January 1, 2026.

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