Winkelmann to Leave Audi Sport to Take Over at Bugatti

Volkswagen Group sources say Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Audi Sport, will leave that post later this year to become president of hypercar maker Bugatti.

Winkelmann, 52, has led Audi’s performance-car division since March 2016. He will replace 59-year-old Wolfgang Durheimer at Bugatti. Durheimer reportedly will remain chairman of Bentley for the foreseeable future.

Audi has tapped Michael-Julius Renz to replace Winkelmann as CEO at Audi Sport. Renz, 59, has been the president of Audi's China sales division since January 2015 and previously served as its head of sales in Germany.

Renz began his career at Audi in 1994 as head of retail marketing.

Volkswagen officials suggest longer-term management plans see Winkelmann, who headed Lamborghini between 2005 and 2016, replacing Durheimer as chairman of Bentley. Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini all are VW subsidiaries.

Durheimer has had two stints as chairman of Bentley. The first was between 2010 and 2012.

It is not clear where Durheimer will end up in the post-Dieselgate management structure. A former R&D development boss at VW sub-brand Porsche, he was appointed to a similar position at Audi in 2012. However, clashes with former VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn over the direction of a number of electric-car projects saw him return to Bentley in 2013 after just nine months as R&D chief at Audi.

Durheimer’s contract at Bentley is understood to end in mid-2019. It is said he wanted to leave at the end of this year but was persuaded to stay until at least the launch of the Continental GTC, the convertible version of the recently launched Continental GT.

Under Winkelmann’s watch, Audi’s performance division was reorganized and renamed from its previous title Audi Quattro to Audi Sport. He also oversaw the launch of the Audi R8 Spyder and RS5 Coupe. He also has supervised development of the upcoming rear-wheel-drive R8 and RS4 Avant.

Winkelmann’s initial priorities at Bugatti will include the development and launch of further derivatives of the Chiron, including the rumored Chiron Grand Sport and Chiron Super Sport.

Meanwhile, WardsAuto confirms Stephen Reil is set to depart Audi Sport on Oct. 1. The popular and respected engineer, who has traditionally overseen the development of Audi Sport (nee Audi Quattro) models, was named general manager of Audi’s performance-car division in 2011.

The Volkswagen Group management changes are expected to be made official Sept. 11 at the Frankfurt auto show.