Karsten Schnake was born in 1968 in Minden, Germany. He graduated in aerospace engineering from the Technical University of Braunschweig in 1996.
He began his professional career in the same year at Volkswagen AG, working in Group Procurement in project management. From 2001 to 2004, he coordinated interior procurement and subsequently served as Regional Head of Procurement at Volkswagen Group Italy in Verona from 2004 to 2006.
After returning to Wolfsburg, he held several managerial positions in Group Procurement Global Series Coordination between 2006 and 2018. During this time, he was responsible for the global standardization of procurement processes and systems (IT Project Green15) and played a key role in strategic crisis management during the Fukushima incident, the global economic crisis, and the semiconductor crisis.
From 2018 to 2020, he served as Executive Vice President of Volkswagen Group China, where he was responsible for strategic procurement and supplier development across all Group brands in the People’s Republic of China. He also played a key role in the integration of Gotion High-Tech Co., in which the Volkswagen Group became the majority shareholder.
Since July 2020, Karsten Schnake has been Member of the Board of Management for Procurement at Škoda Auto a.s. In 2022, he additionally assumed the role of Head of Semiconductor Strategy at Volkswagen AG, where he coordinates the Group-wide semiconductor supply, technological resilience, and strategic partnerships.
Since November 1, 2025, Schnake has been a Member of the Extended Executive Committee and Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Brand in Wolfsburg. In his role, he is responsible for managing the procurement organizations of all brands and regions of the Volkswagen Group.
