Matthias Müller, born in 1953 in Chemnitz (East Germany), has been CEO of Volkswagen Group since September 2015.
Education
Matthias Müller completed an apprenticeship as a toolmaker at Audi, and later obtained a Master’s degree in IT from the Technical University of Munich.
Career
Matthias Müller has built his entire career in the automotive industry. He began as an apprentice in the toolmaking department at Audi, immediately after graduation from Ingolstadt High School. Then, he completed his education at the university, and came back to the same company with a Master’s degree in IT. In 1978, he joined the IT team of Audi in Ingolstadt. In 1984, at the age of 31, he was appointed as a head of the analytical systems department. Nine years later, in 1993, he was promoted to the position of product manager of Audi A3. In 1995, he coordinated the launch of the Audi, Seat and Lamborghini model lines. Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the Audi board of directors since 2002, supported his promotion. In 2007, Martin Winterkorn moved to Volkswagen, and Matthias Müller followed him to the group’s headquarters in Wolfsburg. He became a head of strategy at Volkswagen. In 2010, he was appointed as a head of the Porsche AG. In this role, he achieved impressive results. In 2015, after the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal, Martin Winterkorn resigned and Matthias Müller was elected CEO by the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen.
Anecdotes
Matthias Müller was elected CEO of Volkswagen in a very important period for the company, immediately after the emissions scandal that was caused by falsification of information about carbon dioxide emissions of Volkswagen vehicles.
