Axel Kniehl follows Heiner Olbrich

On October 1, the scheduled succession on the board of management of Miele & Cie. KG, first announced in April, will take place when Dr Heiner Olbrich passes the baton to Dr Axel Kniehl, 43. The latter was most recently Vice President of the Whirlpool Corporation responsible for business in northern and Continental Europe and at the same time CEO of the Stuttgart-based Bauknecht subsidiary.

'Miele is the only truly premium player in the branch worldwide, with a long-term growth strategy, a brand promise it always delivers on and a sustainable partnership with specialist retailers providing sound pre-sales advice', says Axel Kniehl, who has been on board since August 1 in the interests of a gradual and smooth transition. At Whirlpool he initially bore responsibility for the European dishwasher business followed in turn by the sales regions of Russia/Eastern Europe and China, both sales territories important to Miele. After gaining his doctorate, Kniehl was in the employment of the McKinsey consultancy and, later, as Head of International Expansion with Fielmann AG. Axel Kniehl is married and has two children.

Under the leadership of Heiner Olbrich, Miele has made considerable progress with its world-wide marketing structures and strategy and has gained market shares in many key countries. Last year, Heiner Olbrich announced his decision to leave the company for personal reasons. Senior Management at Miele would like to thank Heiner Olbrich for his 4-year tenure and his successful commitment to the Miele company – and looks forward to working with Axel Kniehl.

The members of the Miele & Cie. KG Board of Management, all on an equal footing, are now Olaf Bartsch (Finances/Administration), Dr Axel Kniehl (Marketing/Sales), Dr Markus Miele (Executive Director and Co-Proprietor), Dr Eduard Sailer (Technical Affairs) and Dr Reinhard Zinkann (Executive Director and Co-Proprietor).

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Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washer-extractors and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has 8 production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2013/14 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 3.22 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for around 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 17,660, 10,411 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.