With Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler stepping down, CEO Markus Duesmann will take over as Head of Technical Development at Audi with immediate effect.

Nearly three months after becoming Chairman of the Board of Management, the Supervisory Board additionally entrusted him with responsibility for Technical Development at Audi AG.

Duesmann will realign the premium brand's development division with a special focus on process quality. He will be supported by a Chief Operating Officer, who will coordinate the day-to-day business of the development engineers, and a Chief Transition Architect, who will organise the realignment of the Technical development at Audi.

Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler came to Ingolstadt from Wolfsburg in November 2018. In the past one and a half years, Rothenpieler continued the evolvement of Technical Development that his predecessor had initiated.

He established new competencies in the areas of electric mobility and digitalisation, including artificial intelligence. Born in Westphalia, Rothenpieler has worked for the Volkswagen Group since 1986, including as Head of Complete Vehicle Development at Skoda, as Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at the Bentley brand, and as Member of the Board of Management for Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.