Audi Sport shaken out

Audi is in big-time crisis-management mode right now and sources insist that a sense of sweeping panic is about to overwhelm Audi Sport.

The top two executives at the fast-car firm, which builds Audi’s R8, RS 3, RS 4, RS 5, RS 6 and RS 7 models, will be pushed aside before the year is out.

Insiders have insisted Audi Sport CEO Stephan Winkelmann is about to be removed in favour of Audi China head Michael-Julius Renz, even though Winkelmann only signed on early last year.

The company’s widely respected engineering boss, Stephan Reil, will also be replaced, with a new head of development starting on October 1 while Reil awaits a new role within the Volkswagen Group. Reil has engineered the RS models and the R8 since 2011.

Winkelmann joined quattro GmbH after a decade at the helm of Lamborghini, then changed its name to Audi Sport to cover its role as a customer motorsport operation and to allow it to deliver two-wheel drive cars.

His final two Audi Sport cars will be revealed at the Frankfurt motor show in two weeks. The first will be the twin-turbo V6, rear-wheel drive version of the mid-engined, R8 coupe, while the second is planned to be the RS 4 wagon, which will run the same engine, with a slightly different power output.

Sources insist the 52-year-old Winkelmann will be moved across to become president of the ultra-low-volume Bugatti brand soon after the Frankfurt show.

It isn’t an age issue, because Renz is 59 -- the same age as current Bugatti president Wolfgang Durheimer, who is relinquishing the title to concentrate on his role as CEO of the Volkswagen Group’s British luxury brand, Bentley.

Renz joined Audi as the head of its retail marketing in 1994 and previously served as its sales chief in Germany before moving to lead its Chinese sales operation in January 2015.

It is expected Winkelmann will add Bentley to his responsibilities when the 59-year-old Durheimer’s contract expires in 2019, though attempts are being made to convince Durheimer to stay on longer.

Durheimer, who is in his second stint as the head of Bugatti and Bentley, wanted to move on this year, but was convinced to stick around until the launch of the convertible Continental GT C next year.

Durheimer spent just nine months as Audi’s development director from 2012 and was largely responsible for the current A4, A5 and Q7 before clashing with then-Volkswagen Group CEO Dr Martin Winterkorn over Audi’s electrification strategy.

After Audi CEO Rupert Stadler suggested Durheimer “couldn’t manage the complexity of Audi”, he returned to his Bentley/Bugatti roles in 2013, delivering the Bentayga and Continental GT to market.

Unfortunately for Winkelmann, Bugatti has a record of launching one ultra-high performance car a decade, then marketing modified versions of the core machine. It has only just launched the Chiron and there are no plans for a second model line.

The Volkswagen Group hasn’t announced its plans for Reil, though many of its brands are in desperate need of senior engineering executives with no ties to diesel engine development.