Company | Woco Group (2024)

Michael Lorig has over 25 years of experience in the automotive industry. As CEO of the SaarGummi Group between 2014 and 2019, he was responsible for the strategic realignment of the brand and sales growth from 340 to 640 million euros. In his previous position as Global COO and Managing Director, he led extensive restructuring measures that led to significant improvements in earnings.

He began his career at Rolls Royce before joining the BMW Group. He studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich.

His career is characterized by strategic management, restructuring expertise and the ability to successfully reposition companies.

Since 2019, he has been responsible for the realignment of the WOCO Group and the transformation of the product portfolio towards electromobility.

After training as an industrial clerk, Kolja Kress obtained a bachelor's degree in business informatics and a master's degree in strategic finance at evening studies. Kolja Kress then spent 15 years in various roles at Honeywell, a listed US corporation, including as Group and Investment Controller and Finance Director for Europe and most recently as Global CFO for Global Fire and Safety Products. From 2018, he was Managing Director and CFO of BHTC, an international Tier 1 automotive supplier.

Kolja Kress has been responsible for the Woco Group as CFO since April 1, 2023.

After training as an industrial clerk and then studying mechanical engineering, Franz Josef Wolf worked as a commercial and technical assistant to the management of Ullrich Gummiwerke AG in Gelnhausen until 1956.

On August 15, 1956 (at the age of 21), he founded Woco Franz Josef Wolf & Co. Gummi- und Kunststoffwerk in Bad Soden-Salmünster.

In more than 65 years of company history, Franz Josef Wolf has created a company that has developed from a small rubber manufacturer into a globally active international group.

Franz Josef Wolf founded Woco with the support of his family. His father provided the first premises - his sawmill - his older brother is a co-founder, his younger brother was the technical manager and his sister worked in accounting. This family aspect is rounded off by the fact that his four children have been shareholders of the Woco Group since 1998 and two of his grandchildren since 2023.