Audi could oust tech boss for new model delays

Audi chairman Gernot Döllner is expected to table a motion calling for the firm's technical development boss, Oliver Hoffmann, to step down with immediate effect when its board meets on Thursday, sources have revealed to Autocar.

The move, described as one of many high-level management and operational changes Döllner plans to present to Audi board members, comes after delays in the introduction of several key Audi production models.

Hoffmann, appointed board member responsible for technical development at Audi in 2021, has come under fire from Döllner in recent months.

The new Audi chairman openly held the 46-year-old engineer responsible for the drawn-out development process and subsequent delay of the electric-powered Q6 E-tron, a sibling to the recently unveiled Porsche Macan, as well as the replacement model for the existing fifth-generation Audi A4, which will be renamed the Audi A5.

Sources at Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, say Döllner, who is also head of product and strategy at parent company the Volkswagen Group, will ask the company’s board to vote on the release of Hoffmann as technical boss.

Hoffmann, who previously headed up Audi Sport and was at one time Audi’s chief operating officer, had his contract extended by five years by former Audi chairman Markus Duesmann in May 2023.

Hoffmann has another four years to run on its current employment contract but could be moved to head up the company’s Formula 1 team operations at the former Sauber factory in Hinwil, Switzerland, Autocar has been told.

Audi refused to officially comment on the rumoured change. If the Audi board agrees with Döllner’s motion, a final decision on the possible release of Hoffmann as Audi’s technical development boss will be made at a Volkswagen Group board meeting planned to take place in March.

One possible replacement for Hoffmann is Michael Steiner, the 59-year-old head of development at Porsche and also a member of the supervisory board at the Volkswagen Group’s Cariad software division.

Döllner, a close ally of Volkswagen Group and Porsche chairman Oliver Blume, succeeded Duesmann as chairman of Audi in September 2023.