Gernot Döllner, previously head of Product and Concept at Porsche AG, will become head of Group Strategy, Group Strategy Product and of the General Secretariat of Volkswagen AG effective May 1. In these functions, he will report directly to Herbert Diess, Chief Executive Officer of the Volkswagen Group. Gernot Döllner replaces Jürgen Rittersberger, who – as reported earlier – will become member of the Board of Management of Audi AG responsible for Finance and Legal Affairs in April. As head of Group Strategy Product, Gernot Döllner will succeed Michael Jost, who is leaving the company at his own request to devote time to his own projects.
Herbert Diess said: “In recent years, Michael Jost has set important benchmarks for the strategic alignment of the Group and the brands. These include the decarbonization and e-offensive of the company, the clear positioning of the brands and the idea of a uniform electronics architecture. For that, I would like to express the deepest gratitude on behalf of the Board of Management. I also want to thank Jürgen Rittersberger again, a colleague whose strategic thinking and entrepreneurial approach I hold in high regard. With the addition of Gernot Döllner we are gaining a proven strategist who has gained extensive experience at Porsche AG in the management of model series and in development strategy and innovation management. With him, we will systematically continue along our chosen path and further drive the transformation.”
Gernot Döllner
Gernot Döllner studied mechanical engineering, design engineering/vehicle technology in Braunschweig and joined Volkswagen AG as a doctoral student in 1993. After completing his doctorate, he initially worked as a systems analyst at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg from 1996 and moved to Porsche AG, Weissach, as project manager for reengineering in 1998. From 2001 to 2010, he was head of the Vehicle Concepts and Package department at Porsche AG. At the same time, he took over project management for the Porsche 918 Spyder in 2009/2010. He then became the main department head of Product Strategy at Porsche AG before taking over as head of the Panamera series from 2011 to 2018. Most recently, he was head of Product and Concept at Porsche AG.
Michael Jost
Michael Jost studied physics at the University of Applied Sciences in Hagen. In 1987, Jost started at BMW in pre-development for electronics, system integration. In 1996, he became head of the BMW trading group Jost. In 2005, he joined the management of Jost Consulting. At the Volkswagen Group, he was initially chief product strategist and manager of ŠKODA from 2010. In 2015, he took over as head of Strategy for the Volkswagen brand, and from 2018 he was also head of Group Strategy Product.
Jürgen Rittersberger
Jürgen Rittersberger studied business information systems at the University of Mannheim. After that, he worked in controlling at Philipp Holzmann AG and DIBAG Industriebau AG. Rittersberger joined Porsche in 2002, initially in the “Strategic Projects” department and later in investment management. From 2010 onward, he was in charge of the General Secretariat and corporate development at Porsche AG. He received general power of attorney in 2015 and became Head of the General Secretariat and Group Strategy of Volkswagen AG in 2018. In April 2021, he will become a member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG with responsibility for Finance and Legal Affairs.