VW Group names former BMW executive Duesmann as Audi CEO

Volkswagen Group said former BMW executive Markus Duesmann will head its Audi brand, effective April 1.

Current Audi chief Bram Schot, 58, will leave the company by "amicable mutual agreement" on March 31, VW Group said.

Duesmann, 50, is an engine development expert and former head of purchasing at BMW.

Duesmann is an "excellent engineer" and will do everything in his power to "leverage the full potential of the Audi brand and as such will once more demonstrate our commitment to the promise Vorsprung durch Technik," VW Group CEO Herbert Diess said in a statement on Friday.

Duesmann is the third high-profile defection from rival German automaker BMW after VW recruited Diess in July 2015 and hired Hildegard Wortmann as Audi's sales boss this summer.

Duesmann, a mechanical engineer, came to BMW in 2007 from Mercedes-Benz, where he was head of powertrain for the Formula One team. He was named BMW's purchasing chief, a role previously held by Diess, in 2016.

VW Group has been on the lookout for clean-engine expertise at Audi, which fired a number of developers in the wake of an emissions-cheating scandal that has left the premium brand adrift.

Diess' wish to recruit Duesmann from BMW was first reported last year by Automobilwoche, a sibling publication of Automotive News Europe.

BMW held up the move but dropped its opposition to Duesmann's early departure, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in September.

Audi appointed Schot, its former sales and marketing chief, as CEO in January when it was unclear whether BMW would release Duesmann from a non-compete clause.

Schot had held the CEO role on an interim basis after Munich prosecutors detained former chief executive Rupert Stadler in June 2018 for his alleged role in helping to bring Audi diesel cars equipped with illegal software on to the European market.

Stadler and three other defendants have been charged with false certification and criminal advertising practices.

Duesmann also will take on board level responsibility for research and development at Volkswagen Group.

Audi was a major research and development hub within VW Group, setting standards in aerodynamic efficiency, lightweight aluminum construction, dual-clutch gearbox technology and four-wheel drive systems.

But the brand struggled after it was discovered that engine management software, used to manipulate exhaust emissions tests at VW, was designed by Audi engineers, leading to the firing of engineering chiefs and long-term CEO Stadler.

"We don't need little 'Vorsprung' stories, we need real 'Vorsprung' stories," Audi's current head of research and development, Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler told Reuters.

The e-tron electric car as well as fuel cell technology are two pillars upon which Audi can resurrect its brand claim, Rothenpieler said.

Audi's works council chief, Peter Mosch, welcomed the appointment of an external manager.

"From Markus Duesmann and his team we expect the stable utilization of our factories and a more courageous approach," Mosche said.

Reuters contributed to this report