Ansbach, January 2nd, 2024 --- OECHSLER AG, a leading company in polymer technology with headquarters in Ansbach/Middle Franconia, has appointed Karl Ostler (49) as Spokesman of the Executive Board with effect from January 1st, 2024. Karl Ostler joined OECHSLER AG as a member of the Executive Board on October 1, 2022 and has been Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since January 1, 2023, managing the Finance, Human Resources (personnel) and Strategy departments, among others. After graduating with a degree in business administration from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, he previously held various positions in management consulting and the automotive supply industry, most recently as CFO of a southern German group of companies. Karl Ostler takes over the position of Dr. Claudius Kozlik (62), who is leaving the company at his own request after 24 years on the board, including twelve years at the helm. The company thus ensured the handover of the mandate in an orderly and long-term planned process. As of January 1, 2024, the future three-member Executive Board of OECHSLER AG will comprise Karl Ostler as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Raik Lüder as Chief Products and Markets Officer (CPMO) and Christoph Faßhauer as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Karl Ostler brings more than 20 years of management experience in controlling as well as corporate and personnel development to his new role. Together with his colleagues on the Executive Board, Karl Ostler will continue to sharpen OECHSLER's profile as a global supplier of innovative polymer technologies and products for the automotive industry and in the field of medical technology. The main focus will be on tackling future challenges in a focused manner.
The previous CEO of OECHSLER, Dr. Claudius Kozlik, was appointed to the company's Management Board in 2000 and has been its chairman since 2011. During this time, Dr. Kozlik was responsible for Sales, Research & Development, Project Management, Legal and Strategy. He shaped the company through the internationalization he designed. When Dr. Kozlik joined the company, it had three locations in Germany. Today OECHSLER is an internationally operating production company with locations in Germany (Ansbach, Weißenburg and Brodswinden), Romania (Lipova), China (Taicang) and Mexico (Querétaro). In recent years, this global presence and the diversified customer and product portfolio have proven to be both a competitive advantage and a stabilizing factor in an increasingly challenging market environment. After extremely successful years in the service of OECHSLER, Dr. Claudius Kozlik decided to leave the company at his own request.
Wolf Matthias Mang, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OECHSLER AG, says: "Claudius Kozlik has shaped the OECHSLER Group like no other person in recent years. Since he joined the company, he has not only been a forward thinker in terms of internationalization and had an incredible sense for expansion opportunities but has also shaped the culture of our company in an exemplary manner. The shareholders, the Supervisory Board, the management, and the shareholder family pay Dr. Kozlik the utmost respect for his achievements at OECHSLER. On their behalf, I would like to express my sincere thanks for his commitment over the past 25 years and wish him all the best for the future. I am also pleased that Karl Ostler has already been able to provide new and very profitable impetus in his 15 months on the Board. Building on this, the entire Management Board, now with Karl Ostler as Spokesman of the Management Board, and the Supervisory Board will work together to align our company even more strategically and develop it further in a focused manner."