BMW names new head of M division
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Performance</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hirings-firings/" rel="tag">Hirings/Firings/Layoffs</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/" rel="tag">BMW</a></p><a href="/2014/09/24/bmw-m-gmbh-chairman-nitschke-van-meel-official/"><img alt="Franciscus van Meel" class="right border" data-caption="Geschaeftsfuehre r der quattro GmbH" data-credit="Audi" data-mep="469066" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/d2a685d558debfa5bfda4af0c c624b0b/200801146/vanmeel.jpg" style="opacity: 0.9; float: right;" /></a>BMW's performance division has been run by Dr. Friedrich Nitschke since 2011, developing, among other products, the new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m3/">M3</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m4/">M4</a>. But soon the good doctor will be retiring, and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/">BMW</a> has just named his successor.<br />
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Taking Nitschke's place as chairman of <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/bmw+m/">BMW M GmbH</a> will be Franciscus van Meel (pictured at right), who until recently served as managing director of <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/quattro+gmbh/">Audi Quattro GmbH</a> - the rival outfit that makes Ingolstadt's performance models, including the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/audi/r8/">R8</a> supercar and RS line of performance models.<br />
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Van Meel will join BMW on October 1, presumably to learn the ropes from Nitschke before the 59-year-old executive steps down at the end of the year. Back in January, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/audi/">Audi</a> named Heinz Peter Hollwerweger as head of Quattro GmbH and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/24/audi-quattro-gmbh-leadership-change-report/">reassigned</a> van Meel to its Beijing R&D center, a role which evidently didn't suit him as well as creating Autobahn-storming German muscle cars.<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/24/bmw-m-gmbh-chairman-nitschke-van-meel-official/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>BMW names new head of M division</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/24/bmw-m-gmbh-chairman-nitschke-van-meel-official/">BMW names new head of M division</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 08:44:00 EST. Please see our <a href="/rss-term-of-use/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/24/bmw-m-gmbh-chairman-nitschke-van-meel-official/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20966222/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/24/bmw-m-gmbh-chairman-nitschke-van-meel-official/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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