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Top Personnel Appointments Volkswagen and Audi Announce New Procurement Board Members

From Automotive Industry | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

Karsten Schnake takes over VW's procurement department from Dirk Große-Loheide, and Dieter Dehoorne succeeds Renate Vachenauer at Audi.

Karsten Schnake will become the new Chief Procurement Officer of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand and a member of the Extended Group Management as of November 1, 2025.(Image: Volkswagen)
Karsten Schnake will become the new Chief Procurement Officer of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand and a member of the Extended Group Management as of November 1, 2025.
(Image: Volkswagen)

Karsten Schnake will become the new Chief Procurement Officer for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand and a member of the extended Group Management Board on November 1, 2025. He succeeds Dirk Große-Loheide, who is leaving the company as part of a long-planned retirement arrangement. In addition to his new responsibilities, Karsten Schnake will provisionally continue to manage procurement for Škoda until December 31, 2025, to ensure a seamless transition.

Schnake began his career in 1996 at the Volkswagen Group in project management in Wolfsburg. He led the procurement team at Volkswagen Group Italy for two years and subsequently gained experience in global series coordination as well as capacity, cost, and process management from Wolfsburg. At Volkswagen Group China, he served as Executive Vice President, overseeing strategic procurement and managing the purchasing activities of all group brands in the country. Since July 2020, Karsten Schnake has been a member of the Board of Management for Procurement at Škoda Auto.

Dieter Dehoorne becomes the new Audi Chief Procurement Officer.(Image: Audi)
Dieter Dehoorne becomes the new Audi Chief Procurement Officer.
(Image: Audi)

Dieter Dehoorne has been appointed by the Supervisory Board of Audi AG as the new Chief Procurement Officer. He will assume his role at the beginning of 2026. The Belgian native most recently served as Chief Procurement Officer at the Danish company Vestas Wind Systems. Prior to that, he held various leadership positions at Volvo Cars for over two decades—among others in China, North America, and Europe.

Dehoorne was born in Ghent, Belgium. He attended school in France and the USA and studied Industrial Engineering in Belgium and Spain. He has over 25 years of professional experience in the automotive and energy industries, including more than 20 years in various positions at Volvo Cars. Since 2020, Dehoorne has served as Chief Procurement Officer at Vestas Wind Systems in Denmark. During his career, he has worked in Europe, the USA, and China. He succeeds Renate Vachenauer, who left the company at her own request and reportedly on the best of terms for both sides. Since October 15, 2025, Audi’s Production Board Member Gerd Walker has been provisionally heading the division.

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