Markus Duesmann leaves BMW to become CEO of Audi

Markus Duesmann will take over as CEO of Audi on April 1, 2020, once his contract with the Bavarian brand expires.

As the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported last Saturday, Markus Duesmann will leave BMW to become the new CEO of the four-ring brand. The Bavarian brand has been paving the way for Duesmann’s early departure so that he can begin his new duties as CEO of Audi on April 1, 2020, according to the German source.

It is worth noting that Markus Duesmann is a powertrain veteran who currently serves as a board member of BMW in charge of purchasing and the supplier network. He also led the powertrain department of the Formula 1 team of BMW at the end of the last decade.

Everything points to Duesmann having been chosen by the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess, who is himself a former executive of BMW. His powertrain experience will help the four-ring brand as it develops new engines following the diesel emissions scandal.

Markus Duesmann will be CEO of Audi in April 2020

The veteran CEO of Audi, Rupert Stadler, was dismissed last October after being arrested as part of an investigation into the diesel scandal. Since then, Audi has been led by Bram Schot.

Duesmann is also not the first prominent BMW executive to be poached by the Volkswagen group. Those with a good memory will recall that VW chief Herbert Diess came from the Bavarian carmaker a few years ago to fill the CEO post vacated by Martin Winterkorn.

Volkswagen had said in July that Duesmann would take up his new role as soon as he was able to. It will be the second high-profile defection from the German rival BMW since Herbert Diess was poached in July 2015. Duesmann’s contract with BMW runs until September 30, 2019, and would also include a non-compete clause that board members of BMW must sign.

BMW had said that Duesmann had informed its chairman that he would not be available for an extension of his contract for personal reasons.