FRANKFURT -- BMW CEO Harald Krueger will not make himself available for a contract extension after 2020, pre-empting deliberations about whether to give him another five-year term at the automaker.
"Harald Krueger today informed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board that he will not seek another term of office beyond his current term running until 30 April 2020," BMW said in a statement on Friday.
Krueger, 53, has led BMW since 2015, after becoming the youngest CEO of a major carmaker at the time.
The supervisory board will discuss his succession at a meeting on July 18, BMW said.
"For more than 27 years, BMW has been my professional home," Krueger said in the statement. "After four years as CEO, I want to seek new challenges and apply my extensive international experience in new tasks and projects."
In May, Bloomberg reported that some supervisory board members were questioning whether Krueger was the right choice to lead the company.
Handelsblatt reported last month that there are two internal front-runners for Krueger's job. One is Klaus Froehlich, 59, head of development, and the other is Oliver Zipse, 55, head of production. Both currently sit on the automaker's management board.
After leading the luxury competition for a decade, BMW’s momentum petered out under Krueger’s tenure. It lost the global lead to Mercedes-Benz in 2016 and has since struggled to regain the top spot with cautious model redesigns. Since last year, weaker global markets and trade tensions have shrunk profits.
Avoiding crowds
Krueger, a former production chief, was hastily installed as CEO designate in December 2014 and formally took office in May 2015 following the defection of Herbert Diess to rival Volkswagen Group.
Krueger avoided high-profile appearances in front of large crowds since he collapsed on stage during his first major news conference as CEO during the Frankfurt car show in September 2015.
The company sent Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter to high-profile meetings including a visit to the White House last year.
In 2018 when French president Emmanuel Macron invited carmakers to an auto industry summit on the eve of the Paris motor show, Peter, who speaks fluent French, was also chosen to be BMW's representative.
At BMW's annual results news conference earlier this year, the company sidestepped questions about whether Krueger would receive a contract extension. BMW spokesman Maximilian Schoeberl at the time said succession was "not a topic" being discussed.
Bloomberg contributed to this report
