Complexity fells Durheimer

The sheer complexity of Audi lead to the demise of its former head of technical development, Wolfgang Durheimer.

Speaking to motoring.com.au prior to the start of the weekend’s 2013 Le Mans 24 Hour race, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler insisted his R&D boss” “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,” Mr Stadler said.

In a stunningly turnaround, Durheimer’s fall from grace was so swift that his name was still on Audi’s printed schedule to give Friday’s welcome speech to guests before the 24 Hour race.

Only nine months in the chair at Audi after graduating from Porsche’s R&D operation to head both Bentley and Bugatti, Durheimer has been replaced by the 62-year-old Ulrich Hackenberg, who will retain also his current role as Volkswagen’s head of development.

It will not be Hackeberg’s first stint at Audi, having joined the company in 1985 and becoming responsible for its entire technical development before moving to Volkswagen in 2007. It is believed he has been given a five-year contract in the role.

Audi boss Stadler said: “We are delighted that Ulrich Hackenberg, an outstanding engineer and Audi expert, is returning to our brand. He will also be responsible for the technical development of all the car brands within the Volkswagen Group. This strengthens the role of our brand within the overall Group.”

The difficulty for Stadler would appear to be that he wasn’t responsible for bringing Durheimer, the VW Group’s former golden boy, into the job at Audi. Sources insist he wasn’t responsible for either moving him out or for replacing him either.

Audi insiders have insisted Durheimer (55) fell foul of Volkswagen Group Chairman, Ferdinand Piech, who publicly snubbed the former Audi man’s handshake at the opening of extensions to Audi’s Györ (Hungary) facilities less than a month ago.

“Salzburg [Piech’s home town] still has a huge say in what goes on in VW and Audi,” our source insisted.

“Mr Piech didn’t take kindly to being told that he [Durheimer] was using his name to push controversial decisions through.”

Durheimer moved to Audi last September, having been CEO of Bentley and Bugatti since 2011. He was widely regarded as one of the emerging stars of the VW Group, and at one point had been tipped as a potential successor to VW Group boss Martin Winterkorn.

An engineer, Durheimer was a trainee at BMW and had management roles for both cars and motorbikes before joining Porsche in 1999, taking charge of the iconic 911 and driving the Cayenne into production.

He joined Porsche's board as R&D boss in 2001 and left to take control of Bentley and Bugatti in 2011, as well as steering the VW Group's motorsport involvement, including its highly successful Le Mans effort, which he was set to oversee again this weekend.

He pushed many controversial decisions in his short time at Audi, most conspicuously the culling of the brand’s e-tron electric car programs and rearranging the brand’s reporting structure to divert more decision making through his office.

One of Durheimer’s major changes was to make Audi’s design boss, Wolfgang Egger, answer directly to him, rather than to Stadler. This sent shivers through the spines of everybody who saw the Bentley EX 9 SUV concept car that went on display on his watch at the British car maker.

Durheimer's preference was for plug-in hybrids rather than pure electric cars, and he also culled the A8 and A2 e-tron production cars and killed off rotary power as an option for the range-extender petrol engine in the A1 e-tron.

In terms of product, Audi sources have insisted both the next Q7 and the next A4 have both been delayed until incoming R&D chief Hackenberg can cast a more critical eye over them -- though the delays may be as short as a month.

Sources say the Q7, in particular, has been designed under Durheimer's instructions to be visually confronting, while the A4 will be more conservative.

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