BMW Group appoints new lead for its Driver Assistance and Autonomous Driving Development Department

On 1 January 2019, Alejandro Vukotich will take over as Senior Vice President of the BMW Group’s Driver Assistance and Autonomous Driving Development department.

He is being appointed to replace Elmar Frickenstein, who has been in charge of the department since its creation in May 2016. Between 2006 and 2016, Elmar Frickenstein was head of the Electrics, Electronics and Driver Environment department that was the precursor to the Driver Assistance and Autonomous Driving unit. During a career at the BMW Group spanning 30 years, Elmar Frickenstein has had a formative influence on vehicle electronics and channelled his energy and expertise into its advancement. He will retire on 31.03.2019 after a three-month handover phase.

Alejandro Vukotich has 19 years of experience in the field of active safety, driver assistance and autonomous driving in the German automotive industry. He has clearly demonstrated both his engineering and his management skills in his previous positions.

The topics of driver assistance and autonomous driving play a pivotal role in the BMW Group's strategy for the future. Development is largely carried out at the BMW Group Autonomous Driving Campus in Unterschleißheim near Munich, which was officially opened in April 2018.

There are currently around 1,300 specialists there from the BMW Group and its key partners, such as FCA, Intel and Mobileye, who are working on the development of a technology stack for highly and fully automated Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 driving. The BMW iNext will be the first model from the BMW Group to be equipped with a Level 3 system for highly automated driving when it is launched in 2021.