"Harald Krueger today informed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board that he will not seek another term of office beyond his current term running until 30 April 2020," the carmaker said.

BMW will address the issue of CEO succession on July 18, the Munich-based car and motorbike manufacturer said.

"After more than ten years in the Board of Management, more than four of which as the CEO of the BMW Group, I would like to pursue new professional endeavours and leverage my diverse international experience for new projects and ventures," Krueger said in a statement.

Under Krueger's leadership, BMW lost the title of best-selling luxury carmaker to Mercedes-Benz in 2016, and put the brakes on a plan to mass produce carbon-fiber based electric cars at a time when zero-emission vehicles made by Tesla  were gaining traction with customers.