Audi CEO Ousted Reportedly After Falling Behind Rivals, Will Be Replaced By VW Group Exec

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Audi’s CEO, Markus Duesmann, has been ousted from his position, and will be replaced by the Volkswagen Group’s head of product and strategy, Gernot Döllner, effective September 1, 2023. The move is the latest major change made by VW’s new CEO, Oliver Blume.

Duesmann “has brought great foresight and vision to planning and driving forward key strategic decisions, including, first and foremost, the electrification strategy,” said Manfred Döss, Chairman of Audi’s Supervisory Board. “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.”

Duesmann took over as CEO at Audi in 2019, and saw the company through the difficult COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Reuters reports that top executives at the automaker were frustrated with Audi’s inability to keep up with its German counterparts, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in the transition to electrification. Additionally, Audi’s sales performance in China has not met expectations, further adding to their concerns.

Read: Former BMW Boss Markus Duesmann Is Audi’s New CEO

His replacement joined Volkswagen in 1993 as a Ph.D. candidate. Since then, Döllner has risen through the ranks, serving a number of roles at Porsche, where VW’s new CEO still serves as chief executive. In Stuttgart, Döllner led the Panamera department, and since 2021 has overseen product and strategy for the entire Volkswagen Group.

“I’m honored and excited to be taking on this new role,” said Döllner. “Audi is a fantastic company with a rich history. I look forward to shaping the company’s future together with the entire team at Audi.”

The new Audi CEO’s role will be to ensure that it becomes an independent brand with “entrepreneurial autonomy” even as it serves the wider VW Group, said Peter Mosch, the company’s second-in-command, and the head of the works council.

Just the latest change in the VW Group’s highest ranks made by Blume, Döllner’s appointment follows the dismissal of nearly the entire executive board at Cariad, the company’s newly established (and underperforming) software department.

Döllner will have quite the job ahead of him, as the automaker is expected to release the Q6 e-tron later this year. It will be followed by another 20 models worldwide, all of which are set to arrive before 2025.