08.05.12
Management changes in Swiss Division
Stadler Rail Group has seen strong growth over the last few years. The management structure is being reinforced in order to face the challenges of the future. Peter Spuhler has handed over the reins of the Swiss Division to long-standing CEO of Stadler Bussnang, Markus Bernsteiner. Spuhler will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors and Group CEO of Stadler Rail. The new CEO of Stadler Bussnang is Dr Thomas Ahlburg, who has proven his management expertise in the railway vehicle sector. Dr Thomas Ahlburg was previously manager of the Bombardier factory in Görlitz.
Stadler Rail Group has seen strong growth in recent years. The budget forecasts turnover of CHF 2.3 billion for 2012, and the Group has a workforce of about 4,500 people. In order to be prepared for the future and handle this substantial growth, Stadler Rail has extended its Group Executive Board and reorganised its personnel in an effort to meet these new challenges. Owner Peter Spuhler previously occupied a threefold role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Group CEO and Head of the Swiss Division. The Swiss Division includes the factories in Bussnang, Altenrhein, Winterthur and Biel and additional locations, representing a total of around 2,800 employees and by far the largest division of Stadler. In early 2012, Spuhler handed over the position of CEO of the Swiss Division to Markus Bernsteiner, allowing himself to focus on the management of the Group as a whole.
Markus Bernsteiner (born in 1966) began working for Stadler in 1999 as the head of production at the Bussnang factory. He had previously fulfilled various functions at Bühler, Benninger, Aluwag and Electrolux. In 2006, he took over as CEO with overall responsibility for Stadler Bussnang AG. During this period, alongside his work, he successfully completed a Master’s in Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen. From 2010, he also held the position of COO of the Swiss Division. His position as divisional manager gives Bernsteiner a seat on the six-member Group Executive Board of Stadler Rail Group.
Ahlburg new CEO of Stadler Bussnang
Dr Thomas Ahlburg (born in 1969) succeeded Markus Bernsteiner as CEO of Stadler Bussnang on 1 May 2012. He brings proven management expertise to the running of Stadler Rail’s largest site (1,700 employees). He studied mechanical engineering in South Africa and at ETH Zurich and obtained his doctorate in Göttingen. He then worked at the management consulting firm Booz & Company for 10 years, before stepping into various management positions at MT Aerospace, such as head of the Ariane 5 business unit. For the last few years, he managed the Bombardier factory in Görlitz. This factory is Bombardier’s centre of excellence for double-decker trains.
Stadler Rail Group, system supplier of customer-specific solutions for rail vehicle construction, has locations in Switzerland (Altenrhein, Bussnang, Winterthur and Biel), in Germany (Berlin-Pankow, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Berlin-Reinickendorf and Velten), in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Algeria and in the USA. The Group has a workforce of about 4,500 people, of which over 2,800 are based in Switzerland. The best-known vehicle series from Stadler Rail Group are the articulated multiple-unit train GTW (553 trains sold), the Regio-Shuttle RS1 (497 trains sold), the FLIRT (750 trains sold) and the double-decker multiple-unit train KISS (133 trains sold) in the railway segment, and the Variobahn (290 vehicles sold) and the Tango (101 vehicles sold) in the tram segment. Furthermore, Stadler Rail manufactures metre-gauge trains, passenger carriages and locomotives and is the world’s leading manufacturer of rack-and-pinion rail vehicles.
For further information, please contact:
Stadler Rail Group
Tim Büchele, Secretary General
Telephone: +41 (0)71 626 31 57
tim.buechele@stadlerrail.com