Ulrich Eichhorn

Ulrich Eichhorn is an engineer and manager. Born in 1961 in Obernburg, Germany, he studied Mechanical and Automotive Engineering at Darmstadt University (TU Darmstadt). In 1992 Eichhorn earned a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from TU Darmstadt. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a Fellow of the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers IMEchE.

After several positions at Ford Motor Company - most notably in Vehicle Dynamics, Chassis and Vehicle Engineering, he joined Volkswagen AG as Director of Research in 2000, where projects included the Volkswagen 1-litre car, 24h Speed World Record and the SunFuel 2nd generation biofuel.

Eichhorn became a Member of the Board of Bentley Motors in 2003 and was responsible for Engineering. Products under his leadership include the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Bentley Continental GTC, Bentley Azure, Bentley Continental GT Speed and Supersports, Bentley Brooklands and the all-new Bentley Mulsanne. He finished his product-role at Bentley with the 2nd generation Continental family including a high-power and high-efficiency 4.0l V8 engine cutting fuel-consumption and CO2 emissions by around 40% vs. the continuing W12.

In January 2012 Eichhorn took over the responsibility of Managing Director of the powerful German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) in Berlin, under the leadership of the association's president Matthias Wissmann. In 2016, he was appointed by Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt to serve on the German government’s Ethics Commission on Autonomous Driving.

In January 2016 Eichhorn took over the management and coordination of the corporate research and development function of the Volkswagen Group. As chief representative he reports directly to the Chairman of the Management Board Matthias Müller. In his position he is jointly responsible for the reorganization and modernization of the Volkswagen Group emphasizing digitalization and electromobility.