VW Group and Audi supervisory boards have reportedly decided to replace Audi CEO Markus Duesmann in their meeting on Thursday. Duesmann is set to step down on 1 September, making way for his successor, Gernot Döllner, who is said to be close to Oliver Blume.
German magazine Der Spiegel broke the news this afternoon. Audi has now confirmed the leadership change.
Döllner previously oversaw overall strategy and the general secretariat of the VW Group. Before that, he served as the head of concept development at VW’s sports car subsidiary, Porsche, until 2021, where he was responsible for the Panamera model series. He is considered one of the closest associates of Porsche and VW Group CEO Oliver Blume. The Porsche man succeeded Herbert Diess in a surprise move on 23 July 2022. While the Group called it “mutual agreement,” insiders said it was “an outright sacking” since Diess’ provocative leadership style had endangered the cohesion within the Group. The Supervisory Board considers Blume an outstanding team player.
Markus Duesmann took on the role at Audi just three years ago. As the successor to the recently convicted Rupert Stadler, he was tasked with resolving the diesel scandal and strengthening the technical development at Audi. His predecessors had lagged behind in the shift to e-mobility, and in the announcement, Audi thanked Duesman for the efforts towards electrification.
Duesmann initiated for Audi to launch more than 20 new models and model revisions by 2025, more than ten of which will be electric. “This will be the biggest model offensive in the company’s history,” he said.
However, the Audi boss still beheld in March this year that the carmaker wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the combustion engine. According to him, the “best combustion engine models are still to come”, and the company is working on a new ICE platform. “From 2024, we will also launch a specific combustion engine platform for our last generation of new combustion engines in parallel with the new electric models,” said Duesmann.
Now it remains to be seen what changes, if any, the new leadership will bring. Gernot Döllner will become Audi CEO this September.
Keyword: Audi sacks CEO Markus Duesmann