Friday, February 5, 1999 Published at 19:16 GMT
Business: The Company File
Battle for BMW driving seat
Yesterday's men: Wolfgang Reitzle and Bernd Pischetsrieder
The appointment of new BMW boss Joachim Milberg has shocked motor industry experts who had been expecting Wolfgang Reitzle to take over from former chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder.
The rise of Professor Milberg is the good news that Rover's under-threat Longbridge plant was waiting for, motor industry sources believe.
Whereas fellow executive Wolfgang Reitzle was expected to pull the plug on Longbridge if he had taken over as BMW chairman, Professor Milberg is likely to have a more favourable view of the 14,000-employee West Midlands facility.
"Milberg is well respected and pragmatic. He is target-driven but I think his appointment will end the boardroom in-fighting," said a motor industry source.
A union source added that Prof Milberg was regarded as "a safe pair of hands".
Last September 50-year-old Bavarian Bernd Pischetsrieder was riding on the crest of a wave.
He had outmanoeuvred Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech for the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand name and was promising to build a new generation of top quality Rolls cars.
Six months on and he is looking for a new job.
The BMW board is said to have run out of patience with his ability to turn around loss-making Rover.
It is the end of a long career with BMW.
The Munich-born engineer surprised industry insiders when he took over the top job.
Mr Pischetsrieder is a popular figure with the unions. He negotiated a radical deal on working practices and redundancies that they hoped had secured the future of the Longbridge plant in Birmingham.
Duncan Simpson, chief Rover negotiator for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said: "Mr Pischetsrieder secured the confidence of the unions because he is an honest and open negotiator. He also demonstrated his long-term commitment to Longbridge."
The Bavarian is a car enthusiast - one of his most prized possessions is a Rolls-Royce Phantom II. There was even a famous accident in 1995 when he lost control of a McLaren F1 sports car while hot-rodding outside Munich.
He refuses to shave off his trademark closely cropped beard and likes to wear smart suits and brogues.
His great-uncle Sir Alec Issigonis designed the Mini, which is built by Rover.
According to industry lore, Wolfgang Reitzle, 49, seethed after being passed over for the chairman's job back in 1993.
He was supposed to be the heir apparent to former BMW boss Eberhard von Kuenheim.
But Dr Reitzle was overlooked after it became known that he had been considering jumping ship to head rival car group Porsche and Mr Pischetsrieder was chosen to head the company in his place.
He was hotly tipped to take the top job this time round but has failed to make it a second time.
They feared he wanted to cut production of Rover cars, possibly threatening the future of Longbridge.
Dr Reitzle has worked for the German firm since 1976 and has been behind a string of successful BMW models.
He was chairman of the Rover group between 1995 and 1997.
Dr Reitzle was born in Bavaria and studied mechanical engineering in Munich before joining BMW as a production technology specialist.
He has held several top jobs with BMW including head of engine production, head of the technical planning division and general manager.
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