Siemens' new chief executive, Peter Loescher, promised June 27 to proceed carefully when he officially takes over at the German engineering giant next week. "It's evolution that we need, not revolution," Loescher said. Whoever expected him to radically reorganize Siemens would be disappointed, he said, while vowing to implement whatever changes were necessary.
Austrian-born Loescher, 49, is scheduled to take over as head of the scandal-ridden electrical engineering giant on July 1, when he succeeds Klaus Kleinfeld. He has never held a CEO position, and comes from the pharmaceuticals sector, with little experience of running a sprawling company like Siemens, which has 11 divisions and makes a wide range of products from lightbulbs to power stations.
Nevertheless, experts believe his appointment could mark a fresh start for Siemens following the myriad corruption allegations that have dogged the group for months. Siemens is currently the object of 11 bribery and anti-trust investigations worldwide.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
