The Supervisory Board of ZF Friedrichshafen AG appointed Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen as its new chairman, at an extraordinary meeting on December 4, 2017.
Paefgen, a member of the Supervisory Board since 2008, will succeed Prof. Dr. Giorgio Behr.
Since 1976, Paefgen has held various managerial positions in the automotive industry. From 1995 until 2002, he was member of the Board of Audi AG, and from 1997, he was chairman of the Board of Management. From March 2002, he was responsible for the Bentley brand, and as chief representative of Volkswagen AG, was also responsible for Volkswagen's Corporate Research and Motorsports. Between 2003 and 2005, Paefgen was head of Bugatti Engineering GmbH. From 2007 up to his retirement in 2011, he was president of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. and Bugatti International S.A.