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Michael Taylor16 Apr 2014
NEWS

Durheimer returns to VW Group management

Former Audi technical director takes a step back from the wilderness to return to Bentley and Bugatti roles

Respected engineering guru Wolfgang Durheimer has found a way back from Volkswagen Group purgatory after being appointed to head up Bentley and Bugatti yesterday.

Ousted from his position as the board member responsible for engineering at Audi in June 2013 to make way for current engineering boss, Ulrich Hackenberg, Durheimer has been on ice for almost a year.

While the Volkswagen Group moved him on from Audi, it didn’t want to lose him to another company and rumours have swirled about his future ever since his departure.

However, the 55-year-old German engineer was given the loose title of General Representative for Motorsport and will become Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Bentley and President of Bugatti from June 1 – almost a full year since his departure from Audi.

They will be familiar stomping grounds for the once-rising-star Durheimer, who held both positions for less than 18 months before moving to Audi.

Durheimer will succeed current Bentley and Bugatti head, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, who is heading to an undefined senior Volkswagen Group role at the Wolfsburg headquarters.

Under Schreiber’s management, Bentley set new sales and profit records in 2013, including a 19 per cent sales increase to 10,120 cars and a 66.9 per cent profit jump to €167.7 million.

Already in the first quarter of 2014, Bentley sales have risen another 17 per cent. Dr Schreiber directly replaced Durheimer at Bentley and Bugatti.

“I would like to thank Wolfgang Schreiber for his successful work with Bentley and Bugatti and the consistent further development of the two brands, Volkswagen Group Chairman, Dr Martin Winterkorn, said.

Dr Schreiber, 56, is the engineer responsible for the Bugatti Veyron as well as Volkswagen’s dual-clutch transmission and was head of Volkswagen transmission development from 1996 until 2003. He is also responsible for development on the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Durheimer’s return to a position of authority within the Volkswagen Group will coincide with Bentley’s arrival in the SUV segment in 2015 and the belated decision on how to replace the Veyron at Bugatti.

He began his career at BMW before joining Porsche and heading up research and development before becoming head of Bentley and Bugatti in 2011. He was ousted from his role at Audi after just nine months, with Audi CEO Rupert Stadler insisting he “couldn’t cope with the complexity of the brand”.

“We all have a lot of respect for him and he is a very good manager, but an animal the size of Audi, with a huge product range and a reputation for innovation, was too much for him,” Stadler said at the time.

Durheimer will also rejoin the Volkswagen family fold by joining the committees responsible for the US and Chinese markets for the group.

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Written byMichael Taylor
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