Audi appoints Geoffrey Bouquot as board member for development
Audi only created the board of management department for ‘Innovation and Software-Defined-Vehicle (SDV)’ in June and directly appointed Geoffrey Bouquot to head it. Bouquot was previously Group CTO & Senior Vice President Strategy at supplier Valeo. In October, Audi then decided to introduce a new collaboration model in Technical Development (TE) – basically new decision-making channels and responsibilities in the development department. The new structure, which was developed under Gernot Döllner in his dual role as CEO and CTO, is set to take effect at the turn of the year.
Audi is now announcing a further change: TE will be merged with the business division centred around SDV, which was only established six months ago, and software board member Bouquot will take over as the head of development at TE.
“With the introduction of our matrix organization at the start of the new year and the restructuring of Technical Development, we are taking an important step towards making Audi more efficient, more competitive, and more resilient,” says Döllner. “The main focus here was on flat hierarchies and broad organizational structures, as well as on reducing the number of interfaces, streamlining committees, and the dedicated linking of responsibility and decision-making to defined roles.”
Nine Chief Development Officers since 2012
Döllner went on to say that now was the right time to hand over responsibility for Technical Development. Döllner has been CEO of Audi since September 2023 and also took over the performance of TE in March 2024 – the CTO at the time, Oliver Hoffmann, was transferred to the Ingolstadt-based company’s Formula 1 project but has since left Audi. Before Döllner, his predecessor Markus Duesmann had already taken over the management of TE in the meantime.
Bouquot is the ninth board member for development at Audi since 2012. Michael Dick had headed TE from 2007 to 2012. Wolfgang Dürheimer took over in 2012 and was replaced by Winterkorn confidant Ulrich Hackenberg in 2013. The latter had to leave in 2015 in the wake of the diesel scandal. He was succeeded by Stefan Knirsch at the beginning of 2016, who resigned in the same year – after he was heavily implicated in the diesel scandal. Peter Mertens, who had been poached from Volvo, then took over in May 2017. However, he relinquished the post in 2018 for health reasons and Gerd Rothenspieler took over. After his departure in 2020, the then-CEO Duesmann took over, handing over to Hoffmann around nine months later. He was followed by Döllner and now Bouquot.
Döllner is full of praise for the new board member, even though he has only been working for the Ingolstadt-based VW subsidiary for six months. “Since joining Audi, Geoffrey has provided many important impulses and more than justified the trust placed in him,” says the CEO. “Together with the entire Board of Management, we are getting Audi ready for the future.”
“The original decision to create an additional board position for Innovation and SDV reflects the great importance the company places on a cross-departmental and long-term innovation strategy,” explains Manfred Döss, Chairman of the Audi Supervisory Board. “The aim was to give Geoffrey Bouquot as much latitude as possible to develop such a technology and innovation roadmap when he started at Audi. With the reorganization of Technical Development taking place on January 1, the Supervisory Board believes that now is the right time to systematically consolidate the development work into one division to maximize synergies.”
Bouquot himself also had some words in the press release. “Over the past several months, together with the entire Audi team, we have been able to lay important groundwork for a paradigm shift towards the integral development of vehicles with software as a central element,” he said. “Vorsprung durch Technik and the power of innovation are two fundamental pillars of our product promise. By combining the two business areas, we will bring this promise to life even more.”
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