Thomas Pfister is the new Director of Sales and Technology

• New: four managing directors make up executive board

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• New: furthering the international orientation

• New: positioning as an independent brand

• New: body solutions established as a third field of business

• Conversion – bodies – new construction secures future of company

The executive board of Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH has appointed Hamburg-born Thomas Pfister as a new managing director with effect from 1 October 2015. He will be responsible in future for the Sales and Technology departments. With the newly created position within the management, the company based at Vilshofen on the Danube in Lower Bavaria is reacting to the increase in demands as a result of internationalisation. Thomas Pfister will be responsible for numerous projects, such as the expansion of sales in the Middle Eastern and Asian markets, the implementation of the new three-pillar strategy and the customer-specific segmentation of the individual divisions. 

After high-school graduation and military service, Thomas Pfister studied at the Technical University of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Following a semester abroad in Shanghai in 1996, the 48-year-old graduated engineer completed a master's degree in process technology. Various management positions followed in the construction industry, in automation and traffic control technology, and in compressor production. In the past ten years Thomas Pfister has focused consistently on the development and expansion of the market presence of German companies in the commercial vehicle industry in the Asian-Pacific region. He enjoyed great success in Indonesia, where he was responsible as sole managing director for the expansion of the Sales and Production divisions of a German commercial vehicle manufacturer. There, through targeted restructuring measures, he was able to increase the market share of the German manufacturer of fire brigade vehicle technology to 40 percent and its productivity by almost five times.

Thomas Pfister is married and speaks several languages, including the Indonesian national language Bahasa Indonesia.

Restructuring of the executive board

The new executive board of Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH will consist in future of Thomas Pfister, responsible for the areas of Sales and Technology. Reinhold Grösser is the managing director responsible for Production. Josef Spannbauer remains in his current position as commercial director responsible for the Finance department. Chairman remains company owner Josef Paul, who is also the managing director of Josef Paul GmbH & Co. KG.

Realignment of the company: conversion - bodies - new construction

In May 2015 the company moved into ultra-modern production facilities and a large administration building constructed at the new company location between Albersdorf and Vilshofen. With a total investment of around 25 million euros, the necessary structural conditions have thus been created for the rapidly advancing expansion of the booming niche segment "Special Trucks & Chassis". On the other hand, this has created the necessary scope for a strategic reorientation of Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH, whose range of services is now extended to a third business area, namely complete body solutions. Thus, perfectly matched complete solutions for highly specialised applications will be available in future ex works and from a single source.

The international orientation in the design of individual modification solutions will be reinforced in the forthcoming months through the conversion of series chassis, of which Paul Nutzfahrzeuge is one of the leading manufacturers in Europe. In addition, Paul Nutzfahrzeuge will position itself more strongly on the international markets with its self-developed and manufactured special chassis.

Associated with the implementation of the new three-pillar strategy is the positioning of Paul Nutzfahrzeuge as an independent brand among vehicle manufacturers, in conjunction with complex restructuring in Design and Sales. Taken as a whole, these measures will result in a great deal more independence and will secure the sustainable orientation of the Lower Bavarian family business under the motto "Paul Nutzfahrzeuge Special Trucks and Chassis: conversion – bodies – new construction".