New technology boss for VW Commercial Vehicles

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has appointed a new board member in charge of technical development for the brand.

Alexander Hitzinger was previously Senior Director of Hardware Engineering at Apple Inc. (USA) and will be in charge of developing new tech for VW’s CV brand, along with establishing and managing the Centre for Autonomous Driving and Mobility as a Service functions within the Volkswagen Group.

Dr Thomas Sedran, Chairman of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “We have recruited a renowned expert as Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. He will be implementing the expansion of our competencies in electric propulsion, software development and autonomous driving.”

His primary role will be in the technological development of commercial vehicles, but Hitzinger’s CAV (Connected and Autonomous Vehicle) responsibilities will be across the entire Volkswagen Group.

Although he is joining VW from the consumer technology sector, Hitzinger is a graduate engineer with an automotive background. He began his professional career as a development engineer with Toyota Motorsport in Germany before spending nine years in Formula One. He then worked at Porsche for the Le Mans World Endurance Championship as Technical Director, developing the 919 hybrid long-distance racing car.