Gernot Doellner to Lead Carmaker Starting Sept. 1, 2023
Audi has hired Gernot Doellner to be the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), his new position being effective from 1st September, 2023. Doellner has been focused on Volkswagen Group’s strategy as well as their general secretariat since 2021.
The German carmaker’s new chief executive is a mechanical engineer who entered the Volkswagen Group as a PhD student. Furthermore, before this he was the head of concept design for Porsche and the Panamera range.
Doellner has replaced Markus Duesmann, for whom Audi expressed their appreciation for his essential accomplishments, foresight, and insight. As per a report from Forbes, however, the past CEO was dismissed because of Audi’s deficit of sales in China and its delayed roll out of electric vehicles.
Recollecting, the company declared far-reaching aspirations for the Chinese EV field in 2021, evidently failing to come to fruition.
VW Group CEO Oliver Blume has been very outspoken regarding Audi’s failures in their period with Duesmann in charge. This was shown at the capital markets day as he shockingly outlined its weaker Q1 2023 results in comparison to Tesla.
Audi has been reportedly lagging behind the other brands of the Volkswagen Group on electrified vehicles. The Q6 e-tron hasn’t yet come out, but the successor to the Lamborghini Aventador, dubbed the Revuelto, is already equipped with a 6.5-liter V12 complemented by three electric motors.
The study additionally indicated that the ex-CEO lacked internal political support as a consequence of Herbert Deiss, the former Chairman of Volkswagen Group, being ousted and put on trial for their involvement in the Dieselgate debacle. Duesmann was formerly a pupil of Deiss.
In regard to Doellner’s ascent as CEO, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and President of Audi’s Works Council, Peter Mosch has articulated that Doellner is the perfect choice for structuralizing Audi as a unique entity within the conglomerate.
It appears that a tremendous task is presented to Doellner. Fortunately, Blume has prepared the way before him; this includes offering electric performance models wherein the RS logo is seen, and incorporating the RS e-tron GT into the selection.
