The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG, Dr. Herbert Diess, stated on the changes in the Board of Management: “Audi is realigning itself for the future. To this end, the first key measures have been initiated by the Audi Board of Management under Bram Schot. It is now important for the new CEO, Markus Duesmann, and his future team to make Vorsprung durch Technik an unmistakable maxim for action at Audi. This must be the mission of the Audi management. I thank Bram Schot and his colleagues for their good work.”
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG: “Following the decision to appoint Markus Duesmann as the new Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, further decisions have been made today for the future of the company’s leadership. We welcome the new Board of Management members Dirk Große-Loheide and Dr. Arno Antlitz, as well as Dr. Sabine Maaßen, who will be of particular importance to the workforce in her function as Board of Management Member for Human Resources and Labor Relations Director. We look forward to positive and successful cooperation in the interests of the employees and the company, and we would like to thank the departing members of the Board of Management.”
Dirk Große-Loheide (55) is responsible for procurement at the Volkswagen brand. A graduate in economics, he has worked at the Volkswagen Group for the past 28 years. He has exceptional knowledge of the industry and great procurement experience. Große-Loheide will take over Board of Management responsibility for Procurement and IT on April 1 from Dr. Bernd Martens (53), who introduced the mandatory sustainability rating for suppliers at Audi, the first car brand to do so. In this way, the premium brand makes sure that environmental, social and governance criteria are applied also in the upstream value chain. This sustainability rating is to become an industry standard.
Dr. Arno Antlitz (49) has played a major role at Volkswagen Cars in the development and implementation of the future pact and the turnaround plans in the regions. This has created the financial strength required for the Volkswagen brand to systematically initiate its electric strategy. After two and a half years in Ingolstadt, Alexander Seitz (57), the current Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Finance, China and Legal Affairs, will take over the position of his successor Dr. Antlitz in Wolfsburg on March 1, 2020. With the Audi Transformation Plan (ATP), he has created the right conditions and financial basis to strategically realign the company and secure its future. The ATP has a volume of 15 billion euros and is designed to improve earnings on a sustainable basis.
Dr. Sabine Maaßen (53) has been at Thyssenkrupp since 2016 and has been Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) there with responsibility for the Steel Europe business area since 2018. Previously, the doctor of law and trade unionist of many years’ standing was legal counsel on the board of the IG Metall trade union. As an employee representative, she has already held several supervisory board positions in the automotive industry, in which she has developed a deep understanding of the sector. Dr. Maaßen will take over Board of Management responsibility for Human Resources from Wendelin Göbel (56) on April 1. Göbel joined Audi in 1987 and has worked for the Volkswagen Group in various positions for more than three decades, since 2017 as Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources and Organization. In the past two and a half years, Göbel has made the human resources division of the Four Rings fit for the future and has initiated decisive steps for the transformation of the company.