Volkswagen AG is appointing a new CEO at Audi after the group’s luxury brand recently fell behind the competition from BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The new Audi boss from September 1st will be VW insider Gernot Döllner, who will replace Markus Duesmann, Audi said on Thursday. Duesmann has been at the helm of Audi since 2021, one of VW’s particularly profitable brands alongside Porsche.
During his tenure, Audi was partially responsible for VW’s hapless software projects, which caused delays in key models. It was only at the beginning of June that VW boss Oliver Blume named the slow progress in innovation at Audi as a key area for future improvements.
It was only at the beginning of June that VW boss Oliver Blume named the slow progress in innovation at Audi as a key area for future improvements.
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, whom the former Volkswagen CEO Diess had brought to Audi from BMW, “for his important achievements at Audi in recent years”. In particular, he pushed ahead with the electrification strategy.
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.