Acting chairman of Audi Rupert Stadler (43) was confirmed as chairman at a supervisory board meeting on Friday. Stadler will also continue to manage the finance and organisation division.
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Michael Dick (55) was appointed as the new board member for technical development. He started working at Audi in 1977 and has held various senior management positions in the Volkswagen group. Most recently he was head of vehicle development.
Frank Dreves (54) is the new board member for production, replacing Jochem Heizmann who now heads group production at Volkswagen. Dreves is currently Ingolstadt plant manager.
The Audi reshuffle was prompted by changes at Volkswagen group. Former Audi chairman Martin Winterkorn now heads the group, and took several former Audi colleagues with him.
There had been speculation that Stadler would also move with Winterkorn and become group finance chief German press reports said the opportunity for Stadler to head a whole company was too good to miss. He is only 43 and the Audi chairman post tends to lead to greater things. Like Winterkorn, Ferdinand Piëch was also chairman of Audi before becoming chairman of the entire VW group.
Stadler is also not a ‘classic’ finance man. He has an engineering background engineering and is expected to become heavily involved in all areas of the business. He is also well-connected in the group, having looked after Piëch’s office in Wolfsburg for five years.
At Audi, Stadler helped Winterkorn develop plans and strategies for the group, and contributed to Audi’s recent success as the major contributor of group profit, with volume reaching new records each year.
According dpa-AFX, Stadler rides bikes and enjoys running, which means he is not such a fanatical petrol-head as his predecessors Winterkorn and Piëch.
