The specialist for towed commercial vehicles, Schwarzmüller Group, has appointed a new CFO a few months after merging with the Lower Saxony partner company Krone Nutzfahrzeuge. The supervisory board of the corporate group appointed Georg Eckmair as the new CFO and managing director. It was only about half a year ago at the end of 2024 that the strategic partnership between the German trailer manufacturer Krone and its Austrian counterpart Schwarzmüller was approved.
Back on Track with Krone
The financially troubled Schwarzmüller Group, headquartered in Upper Austria near Passau, thus came under the wing of the second-largest trailer manufacturer in Europe. The company, like Krone, is considered one of the largest trailer specialists on the continent and focuses particularly on semi-trailers and superstructures as well as customized
transport solutions, aiming to get back on the path to success.
For this purpose, the companies developed a joint realignment. As we reported, at the beginning of 2025, some senior Krone representatives joined the supervisory board of the Freinberger corporate group. The management also received reinforcement through a new Chief Alliance Officer (CAO), who had previously been responsible at Krone. Now, the Schwarzmüller Group announces a new CFO in their four-member management team. Georg Eckmair thus succeeds the previous CFO, Daniela Lorenzer.
Eckmair, a finance expert, has experience in international leadership positions and comes from the Austrian company Lenzing AG, a manufacturer of cellulose for textiles and nonwovens. There, the 41-year-old Upper Austrian was responsible for global steering measures as VP (Vice President) Corporate Controlling. Previous stops
included leading positions in Germany at Siemens and at the North German Landesbank (NordLB) in Singapore. At Schwarzmüller Group, he will be responsible for several areas: alongside finance, also legal matters and human resources (Legal and Human Resources). Eckmair:
“I look forward to working with the dedicated employees and the strategic partner Krone to further enhance the competitiveness of the Schwarzmüller Group.”
Eckmair is particularly impressed by the company's innovative strength in sustainability and lightweight construction, as well as the high quality standards for customized transport solutions. In addition, the traditional company founded in 1871 is based on a solid production network. On its website, it describes itself with the following words: “Schwarzmüller has evolved from a smithy to the most versatile vehicle manufacturer with the most
powerful trailers in Europe.”
Daniela Lorenzer joined the Schwarzmüller Group in 2023 and is leaving the company by her own request to pursue new professional goals.
The Schwarzmüller Group employs around 1,740 people and manufactures approximately 6,000 vehicles annually at four production sites in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Since the beginning of 2025, the trailer specialist has been operating together with its partner Krone Nutzfahrzeuge, a company with a similarly long history that today is considered the second-largest trailer manufacturer in Europe after Schmitz Cargobull. Operating under their respective independent brands, both corporations create synergies through complementary product ranges and a joint production network. Schwarzmüller can especially benefit from the logistics expertise of the German partner and contributes its own know-how in specialized configurations.
