Webasto, a German automotive parts manufacturer, has appointed Johann Stohner as its new chief restructuring officer (CRO).

Stohner, who assumed his new role on 15 January, was previously managing director at the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal.

He has over 25 years' experience in corporate restructuring and will lead Webasto's restructuring as a management board member and CRO.

This appointment is part of the company's efforts to realign its corporate strategy and adapt its organisational structures in response to the evolving market environment.

The decision to appoint Stohner was made by Webasto's Supervisory Board and Management Board in close consultation with the owner families and lending banks.

Stohner will be responsible to accelerate the financial and operational restructuring of the company to ensure its future viability.

Additionally, the extended management board plans to develop additional restructuring measures in cooperation with the supervisory board and the works council by the beginning of the second quarter of 2025.

Webasto also noted that it intends to continue with the optimisation activities that were initiated last year.

Webasto Management Board chairman Dr Holger Engelmann said: “We were on the right track with the optimisation programme we launched at the beginning of 2024. However, the general conditions in the automotive industry continued to deteriorate significantly for us in the second half of the year.

“Based on our overall responsibility to secure the future of the company and in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, we have therefore decided to initiate a restructuring process.

“We must continue to consistently adapt our production and development capacities to the changed situation, streamline our organisation as a whole and further sharpen our product range.”