Audi Fires Development Chief - Hackenberg To The Front
Konnichi wa: Hackenberg at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011, the same day Toyota announced its alliance with BMW
Uh-oh: Audi is running out of good ideas. Last year, Audi’s R&D chief Michael Dick (his real name) was sacked and replaced by Wolfgang Dürrheimer. Now Dürrheimer has to go. Hackenberg is dispatched to whip Audi in shape.
According to Germany’s Spiegel Magazin, Audi is losing its “Vorsprung durch Technik.” With its Efficient Dynamics technology for fuel savings, and its CFRP-clad I3 electric vehicle, BMW is seen as the technology leader. Audi on the other hands appears to suffer an innovation disorder. Even worse: In China, BMW was up by 40 percent in 2012, Audi only 30 percent. Even more unnerving: BMW is in cahoots with Volkswagen’s declared arch-enemy Toyota.
Der Spiegel heard that Dürrheimer wasn’t well liked in Ingolstadt. Big mistake: He suggested, the new Audi A8 could be built using Porsche’s MSB kit – “a nightmare scenario for Audi engineers,” der Spiegel says.
The situation is so bad that Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn threw his best engineer, Volkswagen R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg into the fight. He fills the suddenly open position at Audi. Hackenberg spent many years at Audi, where he was in charge of the concept and project management for the Audi 80, A3, A4, A6, A8, TT, A2, cars that set the new successful course for Audi. After stints at Volkswagen and Bentley, he returned to Audi in 2002. In 2007, he joined Volkswagen’s Board of Management as development chief.
Says an old contact in Wolfsburg: “Hackenberg was great for the group. But bad for Audi: When he left there, things went south.”
He is seen as the father of Volkswagen’s modular strategy. Just the right man to quell an insurrection of Audi engineers.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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The Audi Q7 could be a real volume car if it were redesigned to be something along the lines of its Touareg and Cayenne brethren technology-wise. Despite being the same age, it's not nearly as fresh as the (outgoing) BMW E70, no matter how many LEDs they plaster across its bullnosed face.
Couple of things. First, I have a '12 Q5 and do not find it "boring". It's a SUV and it does its job very well. After 18 ,months and 18k miles, i've yet to have an issue. It's a 2.0T and has no problem leaving all others at the light. I came from a Cayman S that was autox'd and tracked which I dearly miss but needed something for kids and dogs. On top, even with my aggressive driving, I still average 23-24mpg in daily driving. OK. "Same sausage, different length" I'm not so sure I find this objectionable. Back in the 80's when I brought a BMW 325E, it wasn't a cheaper BMW. It was just smaller. The same went for Benz. Then both started building cheaper versions and they sucked big time. I like the fact that Audi maintains an equivalent level of quality across the line and the cars are identifiable as Audis. If you want flash, buy a Nissan Juke or Hyundai Veloster… they are "class" cars.