“Jörg Astalosch brings with him a wealth of experience in the automotive, commercial vehicle, and mobility industries and is highly familiar with the customer perspective,” Ardey adds. “He will help IAV advance as a driver of innovation in the industry in times of fast-paced change and transformation. I would especially like to thank Dr. Uwe Horn, who chaired the Management Board from the departure of CEO Matthias Kratzsch until the handover to Jörg Astalosch and brought the management team together through realignment during that period, while also providing key impetus for the future.”

Uwe Horn will remain the Director of Labor Relations and a member of the Management Board, together with CFO Martin Mahlke.

Jörg Astalosch, 51, is joining IAV as an experienced automotive manager. He started his professional career at the Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg in 1988, initially working in various fields relating to procurement and later moving into management roles in the areas of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board. He worked for Audi in the United States and Ingolstadt from 2004 to 2006 and then served as CFO at MAN from 2012 to 2014. He went on to take the role of CEO at automotive development firm Italdesign in Turin, Italy, from 2015 to 2021, acting as a driving force in building relationships with OEMs and new mobility partners. After that, he supported M&A projects at AUDI AG.

Jörg Astalosch apprenticed as an electronics technician and then earned a University of Applied Sciences degree of Diplom in engineering. After completing his vocational training, he studied business and engineering in Germany and completed an MBA in Spain.

Says Jörg Astalosch, “At IAV, our goal is always to develop the best solution for specific customer requirements, and we have outstanding options for meeting that goal. Our independence is our advantage: We aren’t tied to any one technology, manufacturer, or mobility philosophy – instead, we have brought many bright minds together for the past 40 years to develop solutions for the many different forms of mobility and connecting them digitally. I’m really looking forward to getting to know the teams and customer projects at this point. The interface between technology and users is growing ever more important. Thanks to the rapid pace of development in the areas of big data and AI, we at IAV are helping to actively shape the mobility of tomorrow, especially in the autonomous driving space, in intelligent HMI applications, and in user experience design. And that means driving with these technologies is not only safer, but also offers greater efficiency, sustainability, convenience, and comfort.”

IAV is excellently positioned when it comes to the engine technology of the future as well, with extensive expertise on the topics of sustainable battery and electrical management, hydrogen, fuel cells, e-fuels, and of course combustion engines as well.