Audi Sport Restructures Management

Audi revises top management of its Sport performance-car division.

Effective May 1, Oliver Hoffmann and Julius Seebach will jointly manage the rival to the BMW M and Mercedes-AMG brands. The move follows the retirement of Audi Sport Chairman Michael-Julius Renz.

Hoffmann, 42, previously was head of quality management at Lamborghini and Audi’s Gyor plant in Hungary and was heavily involved in the development of the V-10 gasoline engine.

He will take on a double role in the new management. As well as continuing to head technical development at Audi Sport, he takes on similar responsibilities for Audi’s Neckarsulm plant in Germany.

The move hints at a greater role for Audi Sport at the plant, which is undergoing restructuring as part of the cost-cutting initiative announced in March by Audi Chairman Bram Schot at the Geneva auto show.

Seebach, 35, has been head of strategy and powertrain control within Audi Sport’s technical department, and will be responsible for business and commercial functions in its new management structure. An industrial engineer, he previously held positions at Porsche, where he was involved in various projects including the Panamera.

Among the new models planned by Audi Sport in 2019 are successor models to the RS6 and RS7, both of which will make their public debut in September at the Frankfurt auto show. Also under development are the new RS Q5, RS Q7 and RS Q8 as well as a follow-up to the first-generation RS Q3 in a major SUV offensive planned by Audi Sport.

Other models figuring in Audi Sport’s future include a production version of the electric-powered Audi e-tron GT, which is being developed in close cooperation with Porsche.