COSWORTH Technology Ltd - which employs hundreds of people in Worcester - is set to announce Dr Norbert Sudhaus as its chief executive officer.

Dr Sudhaus, aged 45, begins this position at the start of June and succeeds Dr Klaus Blickle, aged 46, who is taking up a senior management position based in the USA.

Prior to joining this major supplier of powertrain engineering services to the global automotive industry, Dr Sudhaus headed testing operations in the technical development department at Audi AG in Ingolstadt.

He joined Audi AG in 1988 and has held various positions in engine development and production at Audi sites in Neckarsulm, Ingolstadt and Gyor.

He started his career at FEV in Aachen after completing his studies of mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen.

Dr Jochem Heizmann, chairman of the Cosworth Technology Supervisory Board, hopes Dr Sudhaus will ensure the ongoing independence of the company, balancing work for Audi and Volkswagen Group with projects for other clients.

"In Dr Sudhaus, we have a chief executive officer who is committed to driving the growth of the firm as an independent consultancy and to achieve excellence in all aspects of the organisation," he said.

" We thank Dr Blickle for the significant contribution he's made to the development of Cosworth Technology."

4 Dr Norbert Sudhaus, the new chief executive officer at Cosworth Technology.