Since Benedict XVI resigned from office on February 28, 2013, it is clear: a pope’s term of office does not necessarily have to end with death. Many people have also identified many saints in the automotive world. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer (72) has been praised by some as the “car pope” for many years. As director of the “Center Automotive Research” in Duisburg, Dudenhöffer is one of the most cited experts in the industry. This couldn’t save him from being expelled from his own institute.
In a statement, the “CAR Institute” stated that it would not extend Dudenhöffer’s contract, which expires at the end of the year, and would end the collaboration. There had already been signs before: the former professor had announced his resignation to contacts in the automotive industry. When asked by manager magazin last week, Dudenhöffer made a curt reference to the management of “D+S Automotive GmbH”. Their boss Jan Wortberg (42), once Dudenhöffer’s assistant, spoke last Wednesday of “ongoing discussions”. But the tablecloth was already cut, and last Thursday Dudenhöffer changed his email address.
Dudenhöffer founded the CAR Institute himself in 2000, when he was still a professor at the Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences. In 2009 he moved on to the University of Duisburg-Essen as a university lecturer and took his institute with him.
When the university sent him into retirement, that wasn’t it for the former Opel, Porsche and PSA manager. After a short, unsuccessful trip to the University of St. Gallen, he returned to Duisburg in mid-2020. As director, he continued the “Center Automotive Research”, but now no longer in a university context, but as a private-sector institute.
The institute has taken precautions
From now on, however, from a purely legal perspective, Dudenhöffer was no longer in charge. The institute now belonged to D+S Automotive GmbH, but Dudenhöffer only holds 30 percent of the company, the majority belongs to Jan Wortberg. The 72-year-old should keep his minority stake, the press release said. Operationally, the ideas between Wortberg and Dudenhöffer apparently diverged further and further. “Good colleagues are not always PERFECTly good colleagues,” commented Dudenhöffer Linkedin
telling.
The institute had recently made provisions for the time after the “car pope”. Three more directors joined: Dirk Wollschläger (61) at the beginning of 2022, Helena Wisbert (41) in August 2022 and Beatrix Keim (56) in March 2023.
In addition to a number of studies, the “CAR” is known above all for conferences at which well-known car managers regularly appear. In the spring of this year, for example, we looked at the “Car Symposium” in Bochum Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares (65) and ZF boss Holger Klein (53). Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius (54) has been announced as a keynote speaker for the coming year.
The Karlsruhe native is notorious for his sometimes biting statements. They are said to have temporarily banned him from working at Volkswagen. Dudenhöffer once grinned that one wish that had come true was that he had outlived long-time Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn (76) in office. The former professor is also controversial because of his “discount studies” on new and used cars. Car dealers in particular repeatedly question their scientific viability; Dudenhöffer equates individual online offers with the overall market, according to the accusation. At least Dudenhöffer was recently able to smooth things over with Volkswagen; for example, he was a guest at a group event on the sidelines of the IAA in September.
If you like, his own institute has now outlived Dudenhöffer’s term of office. But his career as an expert apparently wasn’t the end of it for him. According to the “FAZ
” Dudenhöffer not only changed his email address, but also founded a new company called “Ferdi Research GmbH” in Bochum. He’s still young enough. Benedict XVI didn’t abdicate until he was 85.