Autoblog

Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up

Noah Joseph — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:04:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Volkswagen

Running a high-end automobile manufacturer like Bentley or Bugatti has got to be a dream job for most any business executive. And Wolfgang Dürheimer gets to run them both - but not for much longer, according to the latest reports coming in from trade publication Automotive News Europe.

According to ANE, the former Porsche development chief is set to move to Audi in a broad management restructure aimed at reducing the average age of Ingolstadt's seven-member management board. In his new capacity, Dürheimer (53) is tipped to replace Audi's current development chief, Michael Dick (60), who is expected to retire later this year.

Along with Dürheimer, Volkswagen marketing director Luca de Meo (44, formerly of Fiat) is expected to replace Audi sales chief Peter Schwartzenbauer (60), while Volkswagen purchasing manager Bernd Martens replaces his Audi counterpart Ulf Berkenhagen, who will take up the same role at the group's commercial vehicles division. Audi production chief Frank Dreves is also expected to leave his post, though no replacement was named in the report.

Of course with any game of musical chairs - or "Reise nach Jerusalem" as they call it in German for some reason - replacements will need to be found for the positions being left vacant. We'll be watching who is named head of Bentley and Bugatti, both roles that Dürheimer assumed from Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (pictured above at right), who last we heard was still in the group organizing its classic vehicles division.

Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 May 2012 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volkswagen gives price points for 2012 Beetle, targets Mini

Matt Davis — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: New York Auto Show, Coupe, Budget, Volkswagen

2012 Volkswagen Beetle reveal in NYC - Click above for high-res image gallery

Elaborating on our previous details from the New York unveiling of the 2012 much-altered Beetle, Volkswagen North America CEO Jonathan Browning has told Autoblog, "We're aiming to essentially go after the Mini so far as market positioning and price offerings."

That means a price range from $20,000 to $24,000 when the coupe launches worldwide in late September, and between $25,000 and $29,000 for the 2013 convertible. These price ranges take into account the three engines on offer at the start of deliveries: the 2.5-liter five-cylinder, 2.0-liter TDI diesel, and 200-hp 2.0-liter TFSI. There's no telling what the price will be on the hot Beetle R foreseen for mid-2013 with the newest 261-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four from the Scirocco R, much less the rumored 337-hp Beetle RS with turbo inline five "W28" engine for 2014.

Wheels available at launch will range from a standard 17-inch set to optional 18-inch and 19-inch, the latter set being the size shown on all of the Beetles that you'll see in our photos from the 2011 New York Auto Show.

VW global branding boss Luca De Meo tells us, "We want to avoid the almost total lack of rollout planning that the former New Beetle suffered. That car had a couple of pretty good years and then it fell dramatically. We want to keep offering new things that are significant this time around so as to keep the car fresh."

Though Volkswagen could rely on its vast worldwide manufacturing network to build the Beetle for Western Europe, China, and North America, bosses in New York say that all Beetle manufacturing will remain exclusively at the Puebla, Mexico plant.

Gallery: 2012 Volkswagen Beetle: New York 2011

Volkswagen gives price points for 2012 Beetle, targets Mini originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Fiat marketing chief & Alfa Romeo CEO Luca de Meo defects to Volkswagen

Noah Joseph — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:58:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Marketing/Advertising, Volkswagen, Alfa Romeo, Fiat

Luca de Meo was charting a course to rise to the top of the Fiat group, but if reports emanating from Europe are accurate, he's changed directions as the promising young auto executive has reportedly left Fiat to become the new head of marketing for the Volkswagen group.

De Meo took his biggest step up the Fiat ladder when group CEO Sergio Marchionne handed over the reins of the Fiat auto division to him. De Meo then took on the additional task of re-launching the Abarth performance sub-brand before switching from the Fiat division to assume the leadership of Alfa Romeo as well as marketing for the entire group, including its automotive, agricultural and commercial divisions. Poaching Marchionne's protégé is undoubtedly a huge coup for Volkswagen, whose leaders are evidently banking on De Meo's talent for marketing small, cheap cars - having masterminded the 500's success and most recently formulated the plan for Fiat's new budget-oriented division - to imbue the up! project with success while giving the entire Volkswagen automotive empire and the 100 new projects on which it is reportedly working a youthful Latin flair.

De Meo joins a roster of Italians who've recently come to VW, Europe's largest automaker, and another list of talented young executives who've left Fiat, Europe's third largest (after PSA Peugeot-Citroen). Alfa's longtime marketing director and Fiat group veteran Sergio Cravero is tipped to take over as CEO of Alfa Romeo, Maserati CEO and group chief technical officer Harald J. Wester will assume responsibility for Abarth while the group's marketing role will be split into several different jobs. No word yet on what effect this will have on Volkswagen's current sales and marketing director Detlef Wittig, however.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - Sub. Req.]

REPORT: Fiat marketing chief & Alfa Romeo CEO Luca de Meo defects to Volkswagen originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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