Bo Andersson is stepping down from his role as CEO at Russian carmaker Avtovaz. There has been no announcement of his next step.
Andersson moved into the CEO role at Avtovaz in 2013, taking over from Igor Komerov. That followed a four-year tenure as president of rival Russian vehicle maker, Gaz. Andersson, who is originally from Sweden, was the first non-Russian to head the Avtovaz.
According to the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has a majority stake in the controlling joint venture with Rostoc State Corporation – Alliance Rostoc Auto – a meeting of Avtovaz’s board of directors is scheduled for 15th March. Andersson’s replacement is expected to be announced at that meeting. There has been no announcement of Andersson’s own next step.
He moved into the CEO role at Avtovaz in 2013, taking over from Igor Komerov. That followed a four-year tenure as president of rival Russian vehicle maker, Gaz. Andersson, who is originally from Sweden, was the first non-Russian to head the Avtovaz.
At Avtovaz Andersson took a strong line with parts suppliers deemed responsible for repeated production stops at the carmaker’s Togliatti plant. The carmaker was forced to halt production at the plant last July because of a parts shortage. Similar supply problems hit Avtovaz at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, when three of its partners demanded changes to the terms of their contract and threatened to stop deliveries.
Andersson overhauled the supplier base and personally insisted that new suppliers adhered to five main demands: timely delivery, quality, service, price and appropriate payment terms.
Prior to that, at Gaz, Andersson was credited with the dramatic turnaround the carmaker made following his appointment in 2009. The company lost 30 billion roubles in 2008 ($1 billion at the time). By 2010, the manufacturer earned 2.1 billion roubles, as Andersson slashed costs and improve productivity.
Andersson also looked at logistics and supply chain at Gaz. Firstly, he repaid outstanding supplier debts, and later focused on improving supplier performance. Under Andersson, Gaz also revamped its order-to-delivery system, including a switch to order-based manufacturing
After shutting down the company’s passenger car operations, Gaz acquired contracts to manufacturer vehicles for Daimler, General Motors and the Volkswagen Group.
Under his leadership Gaz updated 75% its product range within three years. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Citation by the Automotive Hall of Fame in Detroit in 2013 in recognition of the progress Gaz made under his leadership.
Prior to Gaz, Andersson was group vice president for global purchasing and supply chain at General Motors.
