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Changes in Supervisory Board and Financial Services of Porsche

After the CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blume, took over the position of chief executive of the Volkswagen Group, there were also changes in the Supervisory Board of the company. According to information from the company, Porsche has decided to expand the Executive Board to promote successful development, by appointing Sajjad Khan as head of the IT team.

Sajjad Khan

“We look forward to being able to welcome Sajjad Khan, a proven digital expert, to the Board and thereby to strengthen our IT team in a critical position. Our industry is experiencing the greatest transformation in its history. We laid the strategic groundwork very early on. Our focus now is on implementation, which we want to continue to drive forward together with Sajjad Khan,” said Oliver Blume.

Sajjad Khan has a truly rich career. In 2001 he joined DaimlerChrysler where he worked in the fields of infotainment and since 2004 he has been working on the development of electronic components for vehicles. Since 2007, he has been the director of the e-car and electronic units, and since 2011 he has been Vice President of the BMW Group. For the last seven years he was Vice President of Daimler AG.

In addition to the new members of the Executive Board, Porsche also made a change at Financial Services GmbH (PFS) by appointing a new spokesperson for the Management Board. That position will be held by an experienced financial expert who, over the past nine years, has held senior positions within the Volkswagen Group, Volker Reichhardt.

Volker Reichhardt

“Porsche Financial Services GmbH is set to expand further by taking on responsibility for Porsche Drive. We are therefore delighted that we have been able to recruit a prominent industry expert to continue our planned course of growth,” said Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG.

One of the members of the Board of Directors of Porsche Financial Services GmbH is Michael Löffler, who was the head of sales and strategy management at Porsche. With this move, Porsche creates a more intensive network with the sales department and strengthens the connection between the parent company and the subsidiary.

Source: Porsche

EV, News

Xiaomi will produce electric cars

The growth in demand for electric cars is increasingly attracting companies that have never been involved in this type of business. After Apple and Huawei, another company is entering the world of electric car manufacturers. It is the Chinese company Xiaomi that will produce electric cars in its own plant.

According to a Chinese media report, the first Xiaomi electric car could hit the market soon. Engineering work has been completed, while vehicle software integration is progressing rapidly and will be completed by mid-October. Although there were rumors that the car would be manufactured at the BAIC Group facility and that the Chinese company would work with OEMs, this is not going to happen.

Xiaomi plans to invest 10 billion dollars in this project over the next ten years, so there will be no shortage of money for the factory. The new factory will have a capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year. In the first year, it is planned to produce half of the capacity, and the goal is for the first cars to reach their owners in 2024.

Last year, the company signed a contract to build a headquarters and research and development center in Yizhuang. According to some information, a plant for future cars will also be built there.

Source: Xiaomi

EV, News

Ariel Hipercar is a beast with 1,180 HP

One of the smallest British car companies with only 30 employees, presented its new powerful electric sports car, the Ariel Hipercar. This is not the first car from the company founded 23 years ago, but it is the first electric car. Before it, eight generations of the Ariel Atom, a road-legal high performance open-wheel car, were produced.

The body of the car is made of carbon fiber, and the design is designed to increase downforce. It is based on an aluminum monocoque chassis and is powered by four electric motors with a total output of 1,180 hp (868 kW). Ariel Hipercar is still in the prototype stage and according to the company’s claims, it will weigh 1,500 kg. The suspension consists of double wishbones at each corner and Bilstein shock absorbers. It is equipped with AP Racing brakes, with six pistons (front) and four pistons (rear). Drivers will be able to adjust the level of regenerative braking, traction control and torque vectoring systems.

The car will use a Cosworth battery with a capacity of 62 kWh, which will enable a range of 241 km. In order to increase the range, an optional 110,000 rpm Cosworth turbine engine will be offered, which will produce 47 hp.

Ariel Hipercar is the name of the prototype, and the real name will be announced later. The car will be manufactured in Somerset, England. In the same factory, Ariel produces the Nomad and Atom models. When it comes to the price, the company did not say how much its first electric car might cost.

Source: Ariel Motor Company

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