Rift in family? Report claims Audi CEO wants to fire company CTO. Here's why

All is not well in the Audi family. In less than a year since Gernot Doellner took over as the company Chief Executive Officer (CEO), reports have emerged in Germany that he is not too pleased with Audi Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Oliver Hoffmann and has blamed him for stalled development.

German newspaper Bild reported that Doellner wants to fire Hoffmann and that the two do not get along. The report is based on information received from sources within the company. Bild further reported that while Hoffmann's contract was renewed by five years, he may be transferred to the new Formula One team.

It is further reported that the Audi supervisory board may consider discussing the issue when it meets later this week.

Hoffmann was first appointed CTO in 2021 and was given the responsibility of accelerating Audi's electric ambitions. In the past, he was also the COO or Chief Operating Officer at Audi and was also associated with Lamborghini.

Doellner himself came in to take over as Audi CEO under rather tumultous times. The previous CEO, Markus Duesmann, was fired after sales in China declined and the EV transition process was deemed to be too slow. Doellner joined Volkswagen Group in 1993 and has assumed a determined intent to fast track EV ambitions. “Gernot Dollner is the right person to further strengthen the company’s product strategy and its position in key markets. Together with the entire Board of Management, he will add the next chapter to Audi’s successful strategy implementation," Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume has said at the time of Dollner's appointment.