'The challenge is huge. I've never seen anything like it in my career

Audi faces formidable challenges and is undergoing change on a scale never seen before - all under a new CEO, Gernot Döllner. James Attwood hears his plan

- James Attwood

When Gernot Döllner arrived in Ingolstadt in September last year to start his new role as CEO and chairman of Audi, he probably found quite the to-do list in a bulging in-tray. Shortly before Döllner's appointment, Volkswagen Group chair Oliver Blume described Audi as "lagging [behind] the competition". That's why the job had become vacant in the first place: former boss Markus Duesmann was sacked, reports suggest, because of numerous delays to the flagship Q6 E-tron.

But getting the Q6 E-tron project back on track was just one challenge facing Döllner. Audi was gearing up for the biggest wave of product launches in its history, while facing an increased challenge from new Chinese rivals, trying to keep pace with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, coping with a slowing market for electric vehicles and dealing with ever-changing regulations.

Whereas Duesmann had jumped across from BMW to oversee Audi in 2020, Döllner wasn't a flashy hire. The 55-year-old has been at the VW Group since 1993, with the bulk of his career spent at Porsche, where he worked with Blume. Among other roles, he was product manager for the 918 Spyder and the Panamera model series. Since 2021, he has been VW's group strategy boss a key if somewhat back-room role.

That seems to fit Döllner's style - and explains why he doesn't seem at all fazed by the challenges ahead of him at Audi. In fact, his demeanour is a great fit for the brand: it's not about being showy; it's about being efficient, considered and decisive. Since he started at Audi six months ago, Döllner and his board have spent their time laying out a new strategy for the company, which has been called the Audi Agenda. See, told you he wasn't flashy.

The agenda is intended to help tackle the key issues affecting the firm. "We're currently managing the biggest model initiative in Audi's history," he says, "while at the same time driving forward a fundamental transformation."