Shanghai (ZXZC)- According to local media, Fred Schulze, currently the director of Audi's C-class and D-class SUV as well as crossover models, has been appointed technical executive vice president of SAIC VOLKSWAGEN (SAIC VW) in Shanghai who will take charge of the Shanghai-based joint venture's manufacturing, logistics and production management businesses. Meanwhile, he succeeds Dr. Christian Vollmer who will become vice-president for production and logistics of the SEAT brand with effect from July 1, 2018.

According to the public materials, Fred Schulze holds a degree in production engineering and is certificated as a welding engineer. Possessing a 25-year experience of Audi products' manufacturing, Fred Schulze started his career with Audi brand in Neckarsulm plant in 1993. Then he was successively responsible for quality assurance and body production of the Audi brand. In 2004, he joined the VW Commercial Vehicles brand. He was named as director of the production of VW's plant in Emden in 2010, manager of the Audi Neckarsulm plant in 2012 and manager of the Audi Ingolstadt plant in 2015. From 2016, he has been in charge of the C-class and D-class SUVs and crossover series of the Audi brand.

At the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show, Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, VW China's president and CEO, revealed in an interview that dispatching Audi's senior executive to SAIC VW is for the purpose of accelerating the SAIC-Audi channel-building program.