Electric Mobility Provider Austria Established: Michael Viktor Fischer Appointed as CEO

Siemens Austria and VERBUND, two of Austria’s leading technology companies, are focusing on an entirely new business area. The company E-Mobility Provider Austria GmbH & Co KG was founded following the EU Commission’s antitrust approval of the joint venture on 20 September 2012. With effect from 1 October, Michael Viktor Fischer, an internationally experienced marketing and sales expert with many years of experience in the automobile sector, will be taking up his position as managing director. In the coming years, E-Mobility Provider Austria will develop a tight network of charging stations, as well as offer an innovative fixed rate electric mobility package for companies and private customers.

The EU Commission gives the go-ahead

The EU Commission approved the joint venture between VERBUND and Siemens on 20 September 2012. The cooperation is not considered questionable under competition law, since the business fields of the involved companies do not overlap, explained the EU Commission in Brussels. The Commission is convinced that the technology, the economic incentives and the regulatory supervision employed by the joint venture will lead to active competition. The questionnaires distributed to selected stakeholders ahead of the decision are a routine part of the "procedure for the registration of a cooperation between large companies". This comprises two phases; E-Mobility Provider Austria was unconditionally approved at the end of phase 1.

E-Mobility Provider Austria GmbH & Co KG was founded following the approval. The new managing director, Michael Viktor Fischer, took up his position on 1 October.

International marketing and sales expert is leading E-Mobility Provider Austria onto the market

The new company has set itself the goal of rapidly making electric mobility marketable in Austria. Guiding it along this path will be Michael Viktor Fischer (42), an internationally experienced marketing and sales expert from the automobile sector. Fischer looks back on more than 15 years of experience in the automobile sector and, since 1998, has gathered intense strategic and operational sales experience in the international markets of the BMW Group, most recently – following the position of marketing & sales director for Northern Europe – for the sales region of Greater China.

"The future of private transport is significantly influenced by electric mobility. For the first time in Austria, we will be offering a nationwide infrastructure and a comprehensive service for this. By 2020, a network of some 4,500 charging and rapid charging stations will be developed, for instance at filling stations or supermarkets. Furthermore, each customer will be able to have their own charging station at home, enabling them to charge their vehicle with 100% renewable energy. Following the rollout of the charging stations, we will concern ourselves in the next weeks with issues such as brand development, the distribution network as well as the product range for both business and private customers. Developing electric mobility to make it marketable in Austria and providing our customers with an attractive offer is an extraordinary challenge and one that the entire team is looking forward to," said Michael Viktor Fischer.

Also on board since 1 October, and at his side as commercial manager of the young company, is Markus Medek (38). Medek has collected many years of experience in controlling at technology companies. Following leading commercial roles, including a position at Elin EBG Traction, among others, in 2011 he took over the planning & controlling management of a business unit in the infrastructure and cities sector of Siemens AG Austria.

Further key positions such as technical management, and sales and marketing are still in the final selection stage and will be filled in the coming weeks.

The long-term goal: A marketable transformation of the transport system

With E-Mobility Provider Austria, VERBUND and Siemens want to achieve the goal of having some 200,000 electric vehicles on Austria’s roads by 2020. The company is therewith already setting the course for the traffic system revolution – based upon electricity from 100% renewable sources.