On the surface, Audi is a haven of solidity: annual sales are around 65 billion euros and operating profit is around 5 billion euros. However, a closer look quickly reveals glaring weaknesses. The return is far behind its competitors Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the premium subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group has not brought a new model onto the market in around three years, and Audi’s share of the growing market for electric cars in China is negligible.
The corporate giants in the parent company Volkswagen are now aware of the precarious situation, as Michael Freitag, car expert at manager magazin, found out during his research. In their distress, they made a decision that was probably unique in recent German economic history: They appointed a man as CEO who had never before gained experience even as a simple board member in a company. And which also comes from outside.
Gernot Döllner (54) is supposed to get Audi back on track. In this podcast, Michael Freitag talks to Sven Clausen about what ideas he is using to tackle this, why he provokes a lot of resistance with his speed and boldness shortly after taking office – and how the experiment could end.
In the podcast “Das Thema”, editor-in-chief Sven Clausen provides information every week about the editorial team’s exclusive findings on a topic that is crucial for the German economy. You can listen to the podcast via manager magazin as well as on Spotify
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