Martin Lehner is to leave his role as chairman of Wacker Neuson. The Germany-based quarrying and construction equipment manufacturer has also announced that chief financial officer Wilfried Trepels will be stepping down from his position.
Lehner – who is also chairman of the executive board, and chief technical officer of Wacker Neuson – has informed the supervisory board that he will not be extending his contract with the company, which expires on March 31, 2021, for personal reasons.
Hans Neunteufel, chairman of the supervisory board, commented: “The supervisory board of Wacker Neuson SE regrets Mr. Lehner’s decision and thanks him for his unwavering personal commitment. During his many years of successful work on the executive board, he has helped drive forward the group’s internationalisation and opened up new growth areas whilst continuously developing the corporate strategy together with the entire executive board.”
Lehner has worked for Wacker Neuson and its predecessor companies since 1987 and will continue to be available to the group in an advisory capacity until March 2021 in order to ensure a smooth transition.
After reporting average growth rates of 11% over the course of the last ten years, Wacker Neuson says it has “clearly deviated” from its growth path in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group adds that, by developing a new streamlined and agile management and organisational culture, Lehner “has now helped make the group even more robust and successful in the long term”.
In a parallel announcement, Wacker Neuson says it has reached a mutual agreement with CFO Wilfried Trepels for him to step down from his position ahead of schedule. The group says the decision was made after Trepels informed the supervisory board that he would not be available for an extension of his contract as CFO due to differences in opinion over the corporate management of the group. Trepels will resign from his position as executive board member effective November 30, 2020. The supervisory board has thanked Trepels for his successful work.
Kurt Helletzgruber will temporarily assume the executive responsibilities of the positions of CEO (from 1 January 2021) and CFO (from 1 December 2020), in addition to taking on the position of chairman of the executive board from 1 January 2021. Matthias Schüppen takes over as chairman of the audit committee of the supervisory board, which was held by Helletzgruber since 2010.
