Bernhard Gerwert is retiring as CEO of Airbus Defence and Space in mid-2016. The group has found a replacement in Dirk Hoke, who will join as his deputy on 1 January and gradually move into the CEO role.
Bernhard Gerwert, 62, is retiring as CEO of Airbus Defence and Space in mid-2016 after 36 years in the aerospace industry.
He will be succeeded by 46-year-old Dirk Hoke, an executive at German technology giant Siemens with no previous aerospace experience.
Hoke will join the group on 1 January as Gerwert’s deputy to familiarise himself with the industry, taking over the reins on 1 April when he will also become a member of the group executive committee.
Tom Enders, CEO of parent Airbus Group, said: “I am pleased that we found an excellent successor to Bernhard in Dirk Hoke; a man with a very remarkable track record of building and growing businesses throughout four continents; a man with strong experience in high-tech industries, engineering and project management, value-added services and digitalisation. In short, a manager well equipped for a world and business environment that is ever more accelerating in various dimensions.”
Hoke began his professional career in the automotive industry at car maker Renault in Paris, after being awarded a mechanical engineering degree from the Technical University of Braunschweig,
Germany. He joined Siemens two years later and has held various management roles across Argentina, Austria, China, Morocco, the US and Africa.
He was heavily involved in the German group’s work on transportation systems, helping it become the biggest foreign railway supplier in China where it built Shanghai’s Maglev Train. His last role at Siemens was CEO for its Large Drives business unit.
The role change comes amid tough times for the aerospace sector, characterised by strained government budgets and increasing international competition. Airbus DS is itself the result of a group-wide restructuring that started in 2013, with France-headquartered Airbus integrating its satellite business Astrium with its military units to create the division.
The process has also included the sale of noncore businesses, such as the commercial satcoms services assets that it sold to private equity firm Apax.
Enders commended Gerwert on his leadership through the restructuring, and revealed that he had discussed plans to retire two years ago.
Gerwert, who became Airbus DS CEO in 2013, will stay on as a senior adviser until at least June 2016. Before the restructuring he was head of the Cassadian defence unit that merged with Astrium and transport aircraft specialist Airbus Military.
