Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
Dive Brief:
- Gernot Döllner will replace Markus Duesmann as Audi’s CEO and chair of its board of management effective Sept. 1, the company announced Thursday.
- Audi’s new head has overseen Volkswagen Group’s product and group strategy since 2021 and served as its General Secretariat.
- Döllner will lead the company’s transition to electric vehicles.
Dive Insight:
It’s the second notable leadership shakeup at Volkswagen Group since CEO Oliver Bloom took the helm in September. In May, Bloom appointed former Bentley production head Peter Bosch to lead software subsidiary Cariad in May and fired nearly all its executive board members.
Reuters reported that the automaker’s management had been dissatisfied with Duesmann’s leadership. Audi has lagged BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the EV transition.
The company’s top brass endorsed Döllner’s appointment.
“At this point in time, Gernot Döllner is the right person to further strengthen the company’s product strategy and its position in key markets,” Audi Supervisory Board Chair Manfred Döss said in a statement.
Audi’s workforce also threw its support behind the new leader.
“Shaping Audi’s role as an independent brand with entrepreneurial autonomy within the framework of the VW Group will be of primary importance,” said Peter Mosch, deputy chair of the supervisory board and chairman of the general works council of Audi, in a statement. “The employee representatives look forward to working with Mr. Döllner and feel optimistic about the future of the company.”
Döllner previously led concept development and the Panamera vehicle program for Porsche.
A Munich court on Tuesday gave former Audi Chair Rupert Stadler a suspended sentence of one year and nine months for fraud related to the company’s 2015 emissions cheating scandal, commonly referred to as “Dieselgate.”
