Seat Appoints Dr. Werner Tietz As Vice President For Research & Development

May 29, 2020 by SEAT

• The former head of Development at Bentley will take up his new position on July 1st

•Tietz, an industrial engineer, has worked across the Volkswagen Group for almost 30 years

•Replaces Axel Andorff, who assumes responsibility for ŠKODA product lines

Milton Keynes, 29 May 2020: Dr. Werner Tietz has been appointed new executive Vice President for Research and Development at SEAT, as of July 1st.

Dr. Tietz, who joined the Volkswagen Group in 1994, was previously head of Development at Bentley.

At SEAT, he will replace Axel Andorff, who will move to ŠKODA, assuming responsibility for Midsize and MEB Product Line.

In his new role, Tietz will lead SEAT's engineering and innovation projects as electric mobility comes to the fore and autonomous technologies enable safer, more efficient driving. SEAT's R&D Vice President is responsible for the delivery of all SEAT and CUPRA vehicles from the concept phase, as well as the SEAT Technical Centre (Martorell, Barcelona), the knowledge hub where more than 1,000 engineers work to develop innovation for cars as well as future mobility solutions.

SEAT President Carsten Isensee commented 'it's great news for SEAT to have a manager like Tietz, who has a long track record in some of the Volkswagen Group's most technologically-advanced brands. His experience will certainly contribute to further strengthening SEAT's commitment to technology and innovation, one of the company's main assets.'

Tietz is an engineer from RWTH Aachen University (Germany). Before joining the Volkswagen Group, he worked on research projects at his university related with plastic materials processing. He held several positions at Audi and was responsible for the development of all Audi interiors. In 2011, he transferred to Porsche, where he was responsible for the development of body and interior of all models. He was part of the team that developed the all-electric Taycan concept and worked on the introduction of innovative materials in several of the models. From 2018 he was a member of the Bentley executive committee and Head of Development, where he was creating the new development strategy and laying the foundations for the electrification of the brand.