- Dr. Markus Müller, CTO at DEUTZ, to act as interim CEO at Torqeedo
- Long-term Managing Director Dr. Ralf Plieninger to depart end of April
Cologne/ Gilching, March 1, 2022 – Torqeedo GmbH, the market leader for marine electric drives, is announcing a reconfiguration of its management team. Dr. Ralf Plieninger, who joined Torqeedo in 2012 as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and& Chief Operating Officer (COO) and served as Torqeedo’s managing director, has decided to leave the company as of May 1, 2022. Dr. Markus Müller, CTO of Torqeedo’s parent company DEUTZ, will step in as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director in addition to his duties at DEUTZ with immediate effect.
Dr. Markus Müller says: “Over the past ten years, Dr. Ralf Plieninger has been instrumental in the rise of Torqeedo, playing a particularly important role in the industrialization and technological advancement of electric-powered watercraft. We would like to thank him for his contributions to Torqeedo and his major efforts to support the launch of the E-DEUTZ strategy. We wish him every success for his future career.”
“It’s been an honor to build up and lead the Torqeedo team for the past ten years,” Plieninger said in a statement to employees. “Together, we have brought innovative electric products to the market, where they have transformed entire segments of the marine industry. At the same time, we have turned a small, innovative startup into a market leader.”
Dr. Markus Müller has been CTO at DEUTZ since 2021 and has served in various senior technical roles for the company since 2006. As CTO, Müller is highly involved with the E-DEUTZ electrification strategy and the recently announced DEUTZ Green segment. Müller originally trained as a motor vehicle mechanic before completing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at RFH University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. He obtained a doctorate in engineering (Dr. Ing.) from the University of Rostock in 2011.
