After in late June one of the biggest independent automotive manufacturers in Germany, Karmann, announced the termination of the Mercedes Benz CLK convertible and basically sealed its fate, late last week its chairman, Peter Harbig announced his resignation.
According to a company statement, Harbig left his office while remaining in good terms with the insolvency administrator, Ottmar Hermann, in whose hands the company now lies.
"The management of the Wilhelm Karmann GmbH under insolvency administration is now completely in the hands of the insolvency administrator. Mr. Hermann will primarily focus on safeguarding the liquidity and obtaining new orders for the business units Vehicle Engineering, Convertible Roof Systems and Metal Group. Business operations will be continued without reservations," the statement said.
Rumors surfacing in the beginning of the month, yet unconfirmed, stated that the German manufacturer is on a rebound thanks to a life-saving contract awarded by Volkswagen. The contract is supposedly stating that in exchange for 10 million euro financing, Karmann will take to building electric vehicles.
Karmann filed for insolvency in April and, as we said, ended production of Daimler's CLK convertible last month.
"Today, the last car built entirely by Karmann rolled off the assembly line. We could no longer avoid shutting down the vehicle assembly line because auto manufacturers' strategies have changed," Ottmar Hermann, the company's administrator said at the time.
Karmann was founded in 1901, when Wilhelm Karmann took over the factory of the coach-builder Christian Klages at Osnabruck. Since then, the manufacturer worked together with Chrysler, Porsche, Volkswagen and of course, Daimler, but the list is much, much longer.
According to a company statement, Harbig left his office while remaining in good terms with the insolvency administrator, Ottmar Hermann, in whose hands the company now lies.
"The management of the Wilhelm Karmann GmbH under insolvency administration is now completely in the hands of the insolvency administrator. Mr. Hermann will primarily focus on safeguarding the liquidity and obtaining new orders for the business units Vehicle Engineering, Convertible Roof Systems and Metal Group. Business operations will be continued without reservations," the statement said.
Rumors surfacing in the beginning of the month, yet unconfirmed, stated that the German manufacturer is on a rebound thanks to a life-saving contract awarded by Volkswagen. The contract is supposedly stating that in exchange for 10 million euro financing, Karmann will take to building electric vehicles.
Karmann filed for insolvency in April and, as we said, ended production of Daimler's CLK convertible last month.
"Today, the last car built entirely by Karmann rolled off the assembly line. We could no longer avoid shutting down the vehicle assembly line because auto manufacturers' strategies have changed," Ottmar Hermann, the company's administrator said at the time.
Karmann was founded in 1901, when Wilhelm Karmann took over the factory of the coach-builder Christian Klages at Osnabruck. Since then, the manufacturer worked together with Chrysler, Porsche, Volkswagen and of course, Daimler, but the list is much, much longer.