Karsten Schnake will take over as the new Board Member for Procurement at Volkswagen Passenger Cars and join the Extended Executive Committee starting November 1, 2025. He replaces Dirk Große-Loheide, who is leaving the company under a long-planned retirement program. Schnake will also remain acting Board Member for Procurement at Škoda until December 31, 2025, to ensure a smooth transition.
Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, stated: “In challenging times Dirk Große-Loheide has realigned Procurement and developed a forward-looking procurement strategy.
I would like to express my special thanks to him for the impulses he has given the Volkswagen Group. I’m very pleased that Karsten Schnake is his successor. He will successfully continue on this path thanks to his substantial experience and expertise.”
Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, said: “I thank Dirk Große-Loheide for his commitment and am delighted that Karsten Schnake is taking on responsibility for procurement for the Group, the Brand Group Core and the Volkswagen brand. Thanks to his many international positions, he has in-depth brand and regional expertise and has already successfully established many new business areas. This means that Karsten brings with him the very know-how we need for the next steps in our transformation.”
Schnake started his career with Volkswagen Group in 1996 in project management in Wolfsburg. He later served as Head of Procurement at Volkswagen Group Italy and held roles focused on global series coordination as well as capacity, cost, and process management in Wolfsburg. At Volkswagen Group China, he was Executive Vice President responsible for strategic procurement across all group brands operating in China. Since July 2020, he has been a member of Škoda Auto’s Board of Management overseeing procurement.
Dirk Große-Loheide joined Volkswagen Group in 1990 working initially in machine procurement before moving into executive roles at SEAT, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and Volkswagen de México. From 2014 onward he handled major tasks within group procurement before joining MAN Truck & Bus as well as Volkswagen Truck & Bus Group’s board. In 2019 he returned to Volkswagen AG as a board member for Passenger Cars’ procurement division before later becoming responsible for Procurement and IT at Audi. Since January 2023 he has been part of both boards at VW Passenger Cars overseeing procurement.
Škoda plans to announce who will lead its procurement division from January 1, 2026.