Munich Oliver Hoffmann looks satisfied on the stage. The “Grand Sphere”, the futuristic eye-catcher on the Audi stand at the Munich IAA, attracts visitors. It’s a car whose steering wheel disappears on the highway because the computer takes over. The interior manages without buttons or screens, the language and the looks of the passengers should be sufficient for most functions.
It is a promise that Hoffmann wants to bring to the streets as a product from 2025. “We don’t want a show event, but real customer benefit,” says the new Chief Development Officer in the Audi pavilion on Munich’s Maximiliansplatz. “Our customers can then relax in the car or work, we give them time.” Hoffmann has been Head of Development at Audi since March. In the past few years it was the VW Group’s largest ejection seat. Since the diesel scandal that began in Audi development, half a dozen managers have tried their hand at the task. The internal candidates failed because of their own involvement in the fraud, the external candidates because of the special Audi culture.
At times, temporary solutions were found. Last year, Audi boss Markus Duesmann personally took over responsibility. Finally, he noticed the 44-year-old mechanical engineer in-house. There are similarities: the North German origins, for example, or the passion for racing engines.
Exit from the combustion engine
“I developed the ten-cylinder high-performance engine for the Audi R8, it was the most emotional engine ever at Audi,” says Hoffmann. But neither the iconic R8 sports car nor the combustion engine have a future under Hoffmann’s Chief Development Officer. Three months after taking office, Audi announced that it would stop developing new combustion engines from 2026. “For us, electric driving is set,” says Hoffmann. “It was important for our employees to create clarity.” There would then no longer be any back doors for the combustion engine. Many Audi employees still have to crack at that, says a veteran.
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But it is consistent, because Audi has to meet the climate targets of the European Union. On the other hand, stopping development does not mean the end of production; Audi will continue to build gasoline and diesel cars until 2033. But Audi is finally again the avant-garde in the VW group, which in its entirety has not yet set a date for the end of the combustion engine.
Audi managers used to be addressed with doctorates and professorships; today they are called by their first names. Despite his physical size, Hoffmann is an approachable type, a family man who also finds relaxation at his children’s Playstation. He advertises closeness and trust, probably the most important capital in times of reorientation. After years of growth, Audi is now shedding 9,500 jobs, the Diesel generation is taking early retirement or is receiving severance payments. The rest of them have to continue their education, learn about electromobility and digitization. “Transformation only works if people have security,” says Hoffmann. Those who go their own way have a job guarantee until 2029.
That seems to be working, Markus Duesmann’s inauguration has sparked a new dynamic at Audi. That is also necessary, Audi threatened to lose touch with Mercedes, BMW and Tesla. After changing the drive, the next big board comes up to the developers. “My focus now is entirely on electronic architecture and automated driving,” says Hoffmann. Because: “Automated driving is becoming the real game changer in industry.”
Hoffmann has to connect the cultures
Audi therefore launched the “Artemis” project. The basic concept of the “Grand Sphere”, which is to replace the A8 in 2025, emerged independently of all the specifications of the existing model range. The preliminary work was done by a small team, but now the visions have to be converted into concepts suitable for series production. For the first time, the software developers are assuming a central role; Audi has brought the specialists together in “Cariad” to form their own company. The whole thing looks like saddling a galloping horse.
There are also major technical hurdles waiting for the Head of Development at Audi. In order to really be allowed to drive autonomously on the autobahn, the car manufacturers have to demonstrate seamlessly safe operation. The costs for the necessary sensors and radars are still too high, and there is also a lack of reliable routines and algorithms. Above all, Audi needs an overall concept.
Up to now, a car has been made up of the sum of its parts; every brake, every window regulator works with its own software. Apart from Tesla, hardly any car manufacturer has so far managed to centralize all processes and create uniform software that can be controlled externally. That only works with “nerds”, those software specialists poached from the technology industry, without whom car development is no longer possible. But they work according to different rules than classic car engineers.
So Hoffmann has a double integration effort ahead of him. Technically, because the “Grand Sphere” is a software-defined car for the first time. Human, because classic car engineers and nerds are now sitting at the same table in Ingolstadt.
More: VW subsidiary Audi says goodbye to the combustion engine – the last model will come in 2025