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The successor has already been determined
Volkswagen fires Audi boss Duesmann
6/29/2023, 4:43 p.m
After around three years at the helm of Audi, Markus Duesmann has to vacate his post. That decides the supervisory board of the German car manufacturer. The successor is already certain, he should further “sharpen” the “product strategy” in important markets.
The VW Group is deposing Audi boss Markus Duesmann. Successor is to be Gernot Döllner from the beginning of September, as Audi announced after a supervisory board meeting. The Audi Supervisory Board Chairman Manfred Döss said that Döllner “is now the right person to further sharpen the product strategy and the positioning in the important markets for Audi”. He thanked Duesmann “for his important achievements at Audi in recent years.” With foresight, he prepared and pushed ahead with important strategic decisions, in particular the electrification strategy. “Audi will be able to continue to build on this in the future.”
According to information from the “Handelsblatt”, Duesmann had to vacate his post after “internal quarrels”. The “Spiegel” also reported growing criticism within the company. Accordingly, Duesmann repeatedly caused a stir with provocative statements.
Duesmann took over the top position at Audi in 2020. He is also a member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group and has previously been responsible for Bentley, Ducati and Lamborghini in addition to the Audi brand. Like the previous VW CEO Herbert Diess, Duesmann came from BMW. Recently, there has already been speculation as to whether he will leave the post, also because of the realignment of VW under Porsche boss Oliver Blume.
His successor Döllner studied mechanical engineering and joined Volkswagen in 1993. He held several managerial positions at Porsche AG, including being responsible for the Panamera series. Since 2021 he has been in charge of product and group strategy and the general secretariat in the Volkswagen Group. Works council chief Peter Mosch said: “We welcome Gernot Döllner as the new CEO at Audi. Strengthening the role as an independent brand with entrepreneurial freedom within the guidelines of the VW Group will be of central importance.” He thanked Duesmann “for the good cooperation”.
Porsche Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche and his deputy Hans Michel Piëch welcomed the decision to appoint Döllner as the new Audi CEO: “We know Dr. Döllner as a versatile manager who has successfully mastered various projects in the Volkswagen Group. We are convinced that as a team player, he will implement Audi’s product strategy at high speed.” At the same time, the two family spokespersons thanked Markus Duesmann for the realignment of Audi over the past three years and the consistent switch to e-mobility.