Executive Personnel Change: Stefanie Wurst succeeds Bernd Körber as Head of MINI.

Munich. The BMW Group announces a personnel change at the top of the MINI brand. As of 1 February 2022, Stefanie Wurst will take over the management of the British premium brand. She succeeds Bernd Körber, who has held this position since April 2019 and now assumes responsibility for the BMW Product Management and the Connected Company as of 1 February 2022.

Stefanie Wurst returned to Munich after being CEO BMW Group Nederland since September 2018. Under her leadership, numerous sustainability issues were actively promoted. Among others, she successfully initiated the "Electric City Drive", which became a pilot project for approximately 100 BMW eDrive Zones in Europe, which support drivers of plug-in hybrid models in the use of the all-electric driving mode in inner city areas. "Sustainability is a holistic task and an attitude that everyone feels committed to," says Stefanie Wurst.

The share of electrified models in the total sales of the BMW Group in the Netherlands increased to a new record of 37 percent in 2021. At the same time, the fully-electric MINI Cooper SE accounted for 21.5 percent of all new registrations of the MINI brand in the Netherlands in the past year. 

At MINI this approach is reflected in an approach that considers sustainability along the entire value chain, from the extraction of raw materials to the production and operation of the vehicle to subsequent recycling. MINI is making great strides in the expansion of electromobility. In 2021, global sales of the fully-electric MINI Cooper SE were almost doubled. As soon as the early 2030s, MINI will be making the transition to a fully electrified brand.

Stefanie Wurst will contribute her experience in the field of holistic corporate management in the interaction of all disciplines and together with our trading partners. From 2014 to 2018, the graduate economist was responsible for BMW's marketing of the German automotive market. During this period, both the brand strength in general and the perception of innovation of the BMW brand, including the sustainability perception, increased. Prior to joining BMW Group, she held various senior positions internationally, including in Singapore for the Asian market.

In her new role, she succeeds Bernd Körber, under whose direction the future strategy of the MINI brand was developed. Among other things, it includes a realignment of the product range, which includes electrified models as well as new offers in the crossover and premium compact segments. The next generation of the MINI Countryman will roll-off the production line at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig from 2023 – with both electric and internal combustion engines. In addition, MINI is stepping up its commitment to the Chinese automotive market, including the launch of local production. Production of a new generation of all-electric models from the brand will also begin there in 2023. MINI is thus taking another step towards becoming an all-electric brand.

A central element of the realignment of MINI's brand image is the emphasis on diversity, tolerance, cosmopolitanism, optimism and enthusiasm for new things, which is expressed by the current campaign motto BIG LOVE. The positive emotionality divides the brand with the MINI community, in which individuality and a sense of community are harmoniously in sync with each other. Innovations in the field of digitalisation and networking also contribute to the brand's future viability.

This not only strengthens the relationship between customer and vehicle, but also the brand's connection to the global MINI community. With its strategic choices in the fields of product, brand and customer as well as technology and production, MINI has a solid basis for sustainable profitable growth of the brand.