Günter Butschek has been appointed as Executive Vice President (EVP) Operations and will take up this position on 1st March 2011. He will become a member of the Airbus Executive Committee and replaces Gerald Weber, who will leave Airbus after successfully completing his missions. Butschek will also become Chairman of the Board of Management of Airbus in Germany (Airbus Operations GmbH).
Günter Butschek is coming from Daimler AG, where he gained more than 25 years of experience in international automotive production, industrialization and procurement. He is currently President and CEO of Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd, a joint venture between Daimler AG and Bejing Automotive Industrial Holding in Bejing, China.
"I am pleased to welcome Günter to Airbus. His enthusiasm and global experience in managing operations and introducing new industrial concepts will bring significant additional value to Airbus. He is the right man to lead the start of the serial production of the A350 XWB, which is of the highest importance for Airbus," said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO.
Günter Butschek began his professional career in 1984 at Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart, Germany, as Project Engineer Central Material Management. After several positions in logistics, human resources and procurement functions at the Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars division, Butschek became a member of the management board of DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) with full operational responsibility in 2000.
In 2002 Butschek moved to the Netherlands as President and CEO of Netherlands Car B.V., a contract manufacturer within the global manufacturing network of DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. He successfully managed the restructuring of processes and turnaround programmes with significant improvement in performance, quality and productivity.
In 2005 Günter Butschek took over his current position as President and CEO of Bejing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd, in China. Leading the joint venture, he relocated the operations to an all new state-of-the-art facility and increased productivity and flexibility of the plant. He launched several new production lines for Mercedes, Chrysler and Mitsubishi products and set the footprint for future profitable growth.
