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MAN | Volkswagen |
            New Faces Appointed to the Board
                                                                        IMPULSES
                             New appointments were made to key Executive Board
                             positions at Volkswagen Truck & Bus and MAN Truck &       Wolfgang Siebenpfeiffer
                             Bus, with effect since 1 July. Dr. Carsten Intra assumed   Editor in Charge
                                                                                       ATZ | MTZ | ATZelektronik
                             responsibility at Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH,
                             MAN SE and MAN Truck & Bus AG as Head of HR from
                             Josef Schelchshorn, who has left the company. Intra will
           © MAN             be succeeded on the Board of MAN Truck & Bus AG
                             by Dr. Frederik Zohm (Research & Development) and
            Frederik Zohm    Dr. Ullrich Dilling (Production & Logistics).
                                                                        Free Time


                    Akasol | Two New Production Sites                   I went to England again for my holiday this year to
                                                                        go walking and to visit different parts of the country.
            As a result of the growth of its business, the battery system manufacturer Akasol   My holiday activities gave me a feeling of freedom.
            is significantly expanding its production capacity. It is bringing two additional   As a result, I asked myself whether my experience
            production sites into operation: one in the German town of Langen, which consists   had something to do with the fact that the risks
            of manufacturing buildings and offices covering more than 3000 m², and one at   involved are within my personal capabilities and,
            its headquarters in Darmstadt, where there is a new factory with a floor area of   on the other hand, that I had become more self-con-
            700 m². In the plant at Langen, which in future will be the company’s largest pro-  fident. Our ability to manage our freedom – and our
            duction facility, it will be setting up an automated mass production line for auto-  cope with live – is linked to our self-confidence and
            motive industry components which will come into operation by the end of 2017.   self-awareness.
            From 2018 onwards, up to 150 employees will be working there producing lithium   Another holiday experience was the chance to
            ion battery systems for leading European bus manufacturers.
                                                                          re discover myself. We sometimes lose ourselves
                                                                        among all the thousands of things that we have
                                                                        to do every day. We have the feeling that everyone
                                                                        wants something from us and we are always giving
                                                                        but rarely getting anything back. I have to admit
           © Akasol                           The Akasol site           that I am someone with significant needs. Some-
                                                                        times we feel as if we have not done anything for
                                              in Langen
                                                                        ourselves for a long time. Instead, we have let
                                                                          ourselves become exhausted and then unhappy,
                                                                        depressed and aggressive. Are we angry with every-
                                                                        one else because we are constantly so busy?
                    Volvo | Polestar to Become                          We should be able to draw our own conclusions from
            Independent Brand for Electric Vehicles                     this insight. I need time and space every day to live
                                                                        in my own world, to feel free, to understand and
                             Volvo is expanding its Polestar performance car arm to   trust myself and to see myself and my day-to-day
                             become a new, independent and electrified high-perfor-  work in a specific context. I need intellectual stimu-
                             mance brand. This is the latest step in the Swedish car   lation to develop my inner life. And I have to create
                             maker’s continuing transformation. The position of CEO at   this time and space for myself. Other people cannot
                             Polestar will be assumed by Thomas Ingenlath, who as   do it for me. I am the person with the best under-
                             Senior Vice President for Design played a major role in the   standing of what I need and what will do me good.
                                                                        Therefore, I must act accordingly. We should be
           © Volvo           renaissance of the brand in recent years. “Thomas Ingen-    asking ourselves what makes us happy, because
                             lath heading up the Polestar organisation shows our com-
            Thomas Ingenlath   mitment to establishing a truly differentiated, stand-  this will free up the resources we need to be happy,
                                                                        capable and truly alive.
                             alone brand within the Volvo Car Group,” says Håkan
            Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars. Volvo has been working together with
            Polestar Performance since 1996 and acquired a 100-% share in the company in July
            2015. In the future, the company will offer Polestar-branded cars that will no longer
            carry a Volvo logo. Polestar will enjoy specific technological and engineering synergies
            with Volvo Cars and benefit from significant economies of scale, allowing it to design,
            develop and build world-beating, high-performance electric cars.
            ATZ worldwide  09|2017                                                                            7
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