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Audi AG

Automotive Manufacturing / Premium VehiclesFounded 1909
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: September 2026

Leadership History

Audi: CEO History

9 leaders · 1988 to present

Who is the CEO of Audi?

Gernot Döllner is the CEO of Audi, in the role since 2023. The first chief executive was Ferdinand Piëch, from 1988.

Current CEO
Gernot Döllner (since 2023)
First CEO
Ferdinand Piëch (1988)
Leaders documented
9
Founded
1909
NameRoleFromToYears in role
Gernot DöllnerChief Executive Officer2023Present3
Markus DuesmannChief Executive Officer202020233
Bram SchotChief Executive Officer201820202
Rupert StadlerChief Executive Officer2007201811
Martin WinterkornChief Executive Officer200220075
Franz-Josef PaefgenChief Executive Officer199820024
Herbert DemelChief Executive Officer199419984
Franz-Josef KortümChief Executive Officer199319941
Ferdinand PiëchChief Executive Officer198819935
Who was CEO of Audi before Gernot Döllner?
Markus Duesmann was CEO of Audi from 2020 to 2023, before Gernot Döllner took over in 2023.

Company Overview

Audi AG is the premium brand of the Volkswagen Group and heads its Brand Group Progressive, which reports Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati together. Headquartered in Ingolstadt, with a second German plant in Neckarsulm and further sites in Hungary, Mexico and China, it delivered 1,623,551 cars under the Audi badge in 2025 out of 1,644,429 for the brand group. Automobili Lamborghini is a wholly owned Audi subsidiary; Bentley and Ducati sit in the same reporting group. Positioned between BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi is known for the quattro all-wheel-drive system, restrained design, aluminium body engineering and lighting technology, and it shares platforms with Porsche and Volkswagen to spread development cost across more volume than its own 1.6 million cars a year would support. The company is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany.

Gernot Döllner

Chief Executive Officer

2023 – Present

3 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

In June 2025 he dropped Audi's fixed 2033 end date for combustion engines, saying combustion and plug-in hybrid models would stay in the range for roughly another seven to ten years. He also pushed software integration back toward Audi after CARIAD delays, set up the China-exclusive AUDI brand with SAIC whose E5 Sportback launched in 2025, and guided FY2025 to ~$74 billion (65,503 million euros) of revenue and ~$5.22 billion (4,617 million euros) of profit after tax at a 5.1 percent operating margin. He studied mechanical and vehicle engineering, joined Volkswagen in 1993, spent most of his career at Porsche including running the Panamera model line, and led group strategy at Volkswagen before taking the Audi job.

Legacy

The Supervisory Board appointed Döllner chairman of the Board of Management effective 1 September 2023, succeeding Markus Duesmann, and confirmed him for a further five years in autumn 2025. He also sits on the Volkswagen Group Board of Management and leads the Brand Group Progressive with Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati. Under him Audi launched more than 20 models across 2024 and 2025, brought the Premium Platform Electric Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron to market, entered Formula 1 in 2026, and signed the 2025 agreement for the future that removes up to 6,000 German jobs by 2027 while ruling out operational layoffs to the end of 2033.

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Markus Duesmann

Chief Executive Officer

2020 – 2023

3 years

Key Decisions & Impact

The Vorsprung 2030 electrification commitment was later reversed: Audi dropped the fixed 2033 combustion cut-off in June 2025. Duesmann studied mechanical engineering at the Munster University of Applied Sciences, joined BMW in 2007 to run its Formula One powertrain programme and rose to its board as head of purchasing, then moved to Volkswagen in 2018. The Supervisory Board replaced him with Gernot Döllner effective 1 September 2023, and he left Volkswagen Group management at the same time.

Legacy

Duesmann, previously a BMW development board member, became Audi CEO in April 2020 with a mandate covering electrification and software. He set up Project Artemis, a separate unit tasked with developing a software-defined electric car, and authored the Vorsprung 2030 strategy, which in 2021 committed Audi to stop developing new combustion engines and to launch only fully electric models from 2026. He also committed Audi to Formula 1 from 2026. Audi Group revenue under him moved from ~$56.5 billion (49,973 million euros) in 2020 to a record 69,865 million in 2023.

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Bram Schot

Chief Executive Officer

2018 – 2020

2 years

Legacy

Schot chaired Audi's board of management from 2018 to 2020, after Rupert Stadler's arrest in the diesel emissions investigation and before Markus Duesmann.

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Rupert Stadler

Chief Executive Officer

2007 – 2018

11 years

Key Decisions & Impact

His tenure ended with the diesel emissions scandal. Munich prosecutors arrested him in June 2018, he resigned that year, and in 2023 he was convicted of fraud by negligence and given a suspended sentence and a fine rather than prison. Stadler studied business management at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, joined Audi in 1990 in sales and marketing, ran the Volkswagen Group board office from 1997 and group product planning from 2002 before becoming Audi CEO in 2007.

Legacy

Stadler ran Audi for 11 years and oversaw its largest expansion, including the build-out of the Q series and rapid growth in China. Audi brand deliveries roughly doubled during his tenure, passing 1.9 million cars in 2017. He also took operational responsibility for Ducati after the 2012 acquisition and, in December 2017, confirmed that Volkswagen would keep the brand rather than sell it.

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Martin Winterkorn

Chief Executive Officer

2002 – 2007

5 years

Key Decisions & Impact

The decision to add SUVs and a mid-engine sports car to a range that had been built around sedans and estates broadened Audi's addressable market and set up the volume growth of the following decade. Winterkorn trained as a metallurgist and metal physicist and came to Audi from Volkswagen quality assurance.

Legacy

Winterkorn led Audi from 2002 to 2007 and pushed the brand's product and design offensive of that period, including the single-frame grille that became the Audi face, the R8 mid-engine sports car and the Q7, Audi's first large SUV. He moved to the top job at Volkswagen AG at the start of 2008 and resigned as Volkswagen Group CEO in September 2015 over the diesel emissions scandal.

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Franz-Josef Paefgen

Chief Executive Officer

1998 – 2002

4 years

Legacy

Paefgen chaired Audi's board of management from 1998 to 2002. He later ran Bentley Motors and Bugatti within the Volkswagen Group until he retired in 2011.

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Herbert Demel

Chief Executive Officer

1994 – 1998

4 years

Legacy

Demel chaired Audi's board of management from 1994 to 1998, between Ferdinand Piëch and Franz-Josef Paefgen.

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Franz-Josef Kortüm

Chief Executive Officer

1993 – 1994

1 year

Legacy

Kortüm chaired Audi's board of management from 1993 to 1994, between Ferdinand Piëch and Herbert Demel.

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Ferdinand Piëch

Chief Executive Officer

1988 – 1993

5 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Backing quattro for a road car when the industry treated all-wheel drive as an off-road feature was the decision that repositioned Audi. The rally results that followed, manufacturers' titles in 1982 and 1984 and drivers' titles in 1983 and 1984, converted the engineering argument into brand equity that Audi still uses.

Legacy

Piëch joined Audi in 1972, ran development from 1975 and chaired the Board of Management from 1988 until he left for Volkswagen at the start of 1993. The engineering programme he directed produced the five-cylinder engine, turbocharging, the quattro permanent all-wheel drive shown in 1980, the aerodynamic third-generation Audi 100 of 1982, the TDI diesel and the aluminium body work that became the Audi Space Frame. He went on to run the Volkswagen Group and bought Lamborghini for Audi in 1998.

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Challenges & Strategic Context

Audi's FY2025 operating margin fell to 5.1 percent from 6.0 percent, well short of the 14 percent long-term target set for the Brand Group Progressive. United States tariffs alone cut ~$1.36 billion (1.2 billion euros) from operating profit, with further charges from CO2 compliance provisions, the cost of the German agreement for the future, and the rescheduling of a group electric platform for the D segment. Deliveries fell 2.9 percent to 1,623,551 cars, with China down 5 percent and North America down 12.2 percent. Audi is removing up to 6,000 jobs in Germany by 2027 and up to 1,500 more by 2029 while holding a commitment to no operational layoffs through 2033.

Audi CEO and Leadership FAQ

Who is Gernot Döllner and what is his leadership mandate as CEO of Audi?

Gernot Döllner was appointed CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG in September 2023; a 30-year Volkswagen Group engineering executive who previously led Porsche Panamera development and VW Group Product Strategy, his mandate is to accelerate EV launches, fix software execution, and manage Audi's F1 entry.

Who was Markus Duesmann and what were his achievements as Audi CEO from 2020 to 2023?

Markus Duesmann (former BMW R&D chief) served as CEO from 2020 to 2023, steering Audi through the COVID-19 pandemic, initiating the planned phase-out of combustion engines by 2033, and officially committing Audi to Formula One.

Who was Rupert Stadler and what was his tenure leading Audi from 2007 to 2018?

Rupert Stadler served as CEO for 11 years, growing Audi's global sales from under 1 million to nearly 1.9 million vehicles, acquiring Ducati in 2012, before resigning in 2018 amid the Volkswagen Group diesel emissions investigation.

Who was Martin Winterkorn and how did he shape Audi's modern product renaissance?

Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn served as CEO of Audi from 2002 to 2007, launching the singleframe grille design, creating the Audi R8 supercar and Q7 SUV, and establishing Audi as a true peer to BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Who was Dr. Ferdinand Piëch and why is he considered the creator of modern Audi?

Dr. Ferdinand Piëch served as Audi's head of engineering and CEO from 1975 to 1993, masterminding Quattro all-wheel drive, five-cylinder turbo engines, the aerodynamic Audi 100, and aluminum Space Frame technology to lift Audi from a middle-class brand into a world-leading luxury tier.

Who is Jürgen Rittersberger and what is his role as Chief Financial Officer of Audi?

Jürgen Rittersberger has served as Member of the Board of Management for Finance, Legal Affairs, and IT at AUDI AG since April 2021, managing corporate financial performance, capital allocation, and supply chain risk.

Who is Massimo Frascella and what is his role as Head of Design at Audi?

Massimo Frascella, former design director at Jaguar Land Rover, was appointed Head of Audi Design in June 2024, shaping the minimalist, timeless design language for Audi's next generation of electric and hybrid production vehicles.

How does the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG oversee executive leadership?

The AUDI AG Supervisory Board is chaired by Manfred Döss of the Volkswagen AG Board of Management, and half its seats are held by employee representatives under German co-determination law, including the works council chairs from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm and IG Metall officials. It approves major capital spending, plant allocations and executive appointments, and it appointed Gernot Döllner CEO effective 1 September 2023, confirming him for a further five years in autumn 2025.

Who is the CEO of Audi?

Gernot Döllner took over as CEO in 2023, tasked by Volkswagen leadership with aggressively fixing massive software delays that had severely stalled Audi's EV rollout.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.