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Antonio Gratis to become new Managing Director of the Nardò Technical CenterNew head at the testing grounds in southern Italy

Stuttgart/Nardò. Changing of the guard in Nardò: As of November 1st, 2018, Antonio Gratis will take over as Managing Director of the Nardò Technical Center in Apulia (Italy). Since 1975 the testing grounds have been at the forefront of modern automotive development trends and have been operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Porsche Engineering Group GmbH of Weissach, Germany, since 2012. Gratis will lead the testing center together with Edmund Sander, the Technical Director. He succeeds Fabio Barsotti, who left the Nardò Technical Center for personal reasons.

“In Antonio Gratis we have gained an experienced manager for our testing grounds,” says Malte Radmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Engineering Group GmbH and the shareholder's committee of the Nardò Technical Center. “For over 40 years, the testing grounds have offered excellent conditions for testing in the automotive industry. We are continuously pressing forward with the further development of the grounds to prepare Nardò for the vehicle testing needs of the future. Based on his prior career stations and his strategic expertise, Antonio Gratis has all the capabilities needed to play an active role in setting the direction of the test center.”

With the new Managing Director, the Nardò Technical Center is gaining an experienced manager with international expertise: Before his move to Nardò, Gratis was most recently Vice President for Business Unit Pavers with the German mechanical engineering firm Bomag Fayat Group. Before that, Antonio Gratis had been General Manager of BOMAG Alfonsine since 2014. After his engineering and business administration studies, Gratis’ spent twelve years with IVECO. Over this period, he was initially responsible for various projects in Spain, Germany, Italy and Russia before becoming Head of Operations for different IVECO plants in Italy, Argentina and France. Antonio Gratis was born in Gallipoli in Apulia, Italy.

About Porsche Engineering and the Nardò Technical Center

Weissach, Germany-based Porsche Engineering Group GmbH is a premium engineering services provider for car manufacturers, the automotive parts industry and other sectors. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG. Commissioned by customers, its engineers develop diverse solutions – from the design of individual components to the creation of complex modules and the planning and implementation of complete vehicle developments including series start-up management.

The Nardò Technical Center in Apulia, which has been part of Porsche since 2012, offers both the company and its customers extensive facilities for testing and conducting trials. Its 12.6 kilometer circular track for high-speed drives is unique worldwide. With over 20 test tracks and testing facilities over an area encompassing over 700 hectares, the testing grounds also offer testing capabilities for any conceivable phase of development. Engineering services for external customers are a cornerstone of the Porsche identity and an important part of Porsche. However, the public knows little about this. Porsche Engineering operates according to a policy of strict confidentiality to ensure that the product strategies and brand identities of its customers are always protected with the greatest care.

27.09.2018

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