Effective from October 1, 2025, Claudia Malkus, previously Head of "Production Responsibility for Battery Modules" and Head of "Strategy and Performance Management," will assume the position of Production and Site Manager at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Düsseldorf. She succeeds Michael Hellmann, who will leave the company to pursue new challenges. Malkus started her career at Mercedes-Benz in 2012 in Hamburg as a planning engineer for lightweight technologies. After various positions, she took over the management of the European battery production network in 2023, including the battery recycling factory in Kuppenheim. Since January 2025, she has also been responsible for strategy and performance management in the Mercedes-Benz Cars production network. Malkus will be responsible for the operational management of the Sprinter plant in the future. She is expected to advance the site's development and ensure the smooth production start-up of vehicles based on the new Mercedes-Benz Van Architecture.
Gebrüder Weiss bids farewell to Executive Board member Peter Kloiber as he retires. He was responsible for the areas of parcel service, logistics, IT, personnel and organizational development, marketing, and communication, as well as the subsidiaries Xvise and Dicall. He began his career with Gebrüder Weiss in 1990 in corporate and personnel development.Peter Schafleitner, previously Director of Product Management Land Transport, will move up to the Executive Board. Since 1989, he has held various positions in sales and land transport and managed two locations in Austria. Since 2017, he has served as Director and Regional Manager for the Central Region, and since 2024, he has been in charge of product management for land transport. The areas of the Executive Board will be reorganized. From July 1, 2025, Wolfram Senger-Weiss (Chairman) will be responsible for digitization, finance, corporate governance, and real estate, as well as the Black Sea/CIS region. Jürgen Bauer will manage land transport in Europe, customs, procurement, logistics, and
the subsidiary Xvise. Lothar Thoma will head air and sea freight and overseas divisions, as well as personnel and organizational development, and Peter Schafleitner will assume responsibility for product management for land transport, sales, marketing, and communication, as well as the parcel service (GWP) and the call center dicall.
Also retiring is long-term employee Stefan Brüning from Reifen-Müller, Georg Müller GmbH & Co. KG. Since July 18, 1988, he held various roles at the company, most recently responsible for strategic market alignment as sales manager.
The Ecooltech Grosskopf GmbH appoints Holger Dörre as Technical Director or CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Dörre joined the company in July 2025, previously overseeing the development and production of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC systems), hydraulic actuators, and dampers for rail vehicles and buses, as well as modular transport cooling applications as Technical & Production Director. Before that, he served as Development Manager at Frigoblock and held various positions at automotive and supply industries companies.
Elena Erler-Höpfinger joined the management of MAN Truck & Bus Deutschland GmbH on July 1, 2025. She succeeds Marc Appelt as HR Director, who will become the Managing Director of MAN Truck & Bus Malaysia. Erler-Höpfinger previously served as Lead HR Business Partner in the Sales Board Division at MAN Truck & Bus SE and will be responsible for the further development of human resources strategy and processes in her new position. She has been with the company for over ten years, including working as an HR consultant in the production and sales board divisions. Appelt had been with MAN for more than 20 years, holding various management positions over the last ten years, including seven years as HR Director at MAN Truck & Bus Deutschland.
On January 1, 2026, Dachser will transfer responsibility for the Business Unit European Logistics Germany to Claus Wetzel. He
succeeds Andreas Fritsch, who has led Dachser's German business operations in transport and storage of industrial and consumer goods since January 1, 2023. From January 1, 2026, Florian Zehetleitner will lead the Business Unit European Logistics North Central Europe. He takes over the position from Wolfgang Reinel, who has been responsible for the Business Unit since 2014. As Managing Director, Wetzel will oversee the business development of the 41 German branches of the Business Unit European Logistics Germany. He joined Dachser in November 2019 and has been responsible for developing uniform productivity and quality standards across all German branches as Head of Operations European Logistics Germany. Prior to joining Dachser, Wetzel worked for several years at the Raben Group and has over 20 years of experience in the logistics and freight forwarding industry. In his new position, he reports to the COO of Road Logistics at Dachser, Alexander Tonn. The leadership of the Business Unit European Logistics North Central Europe (NCE) will be taken over by Florian Zehetleitner on January 1, 2026. Supported by Wolfgang Reinel, he is preparing for the role in the newly created position of Deputy Managing Director to take responsibility for Dachser European Logistics in Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, as well as in the regions of Benelux, Nordics, South East Europe, and UK/Ireland. Currently, Zehetleitner leads the strategic flagship program "Interlocking Recharged" at Dachser. He joined Dachser in 2021 and previously held various positions, including at Panalpina. Most recently, he led as Managing Director Operations & Sales the general cargo and contract logistics business of the Bexity Group Austria. His logistics career began in 2001 as a trainee at the Dachser branch in Memmingen. In line with the generational transition in management, Andreas Fritsch and Wolfgang Reinel will gradually transition from their operational roles to an advisory function within the company.
The LGI Logistics Group International GmbH announces that Bernd Schwenger will retire as CEO and as a member of the Elanders Group management. His successor will be Florian Beck, who is currently Chief Operations Officer at the Elanders subsidiary Bergen Logistics. Beck has been part of the corporate group for ten years, including nine years with LGI, and has held various leadership positions within the group.
Barbara Hagen, formerly CFO of Aras Kargo, the Turkish parcel subsidiary of Österreichische Post AG, was appointed CEO effective June 1, 2025. She will continue to oversee her previous agendas and assume additional responsibilities for strategy, IT, and personnel. Hagen succeeds Carsten Wallmann, who will strategically advise the company as a member of the Board of Directors and focus on further expansion in the CEE/SEE growth region of Österreichische Post.
On June 16, 2025, Carsten Siebe has assumed the newly created role of Head of CAM at the Geis Group from the Nuremberg location. He has more than 25 years of experience in sales and building international network structures. Siebe will be responsible for coordinating the work of CAM across countries and products, working closely with the sales managers of the business units and national companies.
Frauke Janßen has been the Managing Director of the VDV Regional Group East since July 1, 2025. She succeeds longtime Regional Group Managing Director Werner Faber. Throughout her professional career, Janßen has been engaged in municipal affairs and at the association level. After more than twelve years with the Federal-SGK and later for the German Association of Cities, she most recently worked as a manager in municipal consulting.
During the meeting on June 11, 2025, the Supervisory Board of Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (HGK) Dr. Gerrit Krupp was elected as the new chairman. Dirk Michel was confirmed as deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board.
