Audi CEO Gernot Döllner Explains His Plan to Revitalize the Brand

It’s a wild time in the auto industry at the moment. With global tensions soaring, trade wars raging, and consumer sentiment waffling, nearly all of the world’s major auto brands are reshuffling their portfolios as quickly as possible to keep up. It’s a legendarily difficult time to build and sell cars on a global scale, but lately Audi has been struggling more than most.

The brand’s sales have been declining, as have key indicators of its quality and customer appeal. How can the company turn this around? At the launch of the new 2027 Audi RS5 in Morocco, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told us survival in today’s market requires a new level of agility.

“I had to take back the decision of my predecessor, that we will end combustion engines by 2032, and we have known [since] last year that we will be flexible,” he said.

American Market Is Special

Part of that flexibility entails finding the right products for the right places. “Every market has a specialty,” Döllner said, and it should come as no surprise that, for Americans, it’s simply the bigger the better. Given that, Audi’s upcoming Q9, its all-new range-topping luxury three-row SUV, can’t come soon enough.

Döllner said that America is “a special market with vehicle segments we don’t see anywhere else in the world.” It’s also a place where the pace of electrification has all but stalled, at least in the short term. “That’s what we see right now,” he said. “I don’t know if battery electric will come back that fast.”

For now, at least, look for more cars with more variations on the ol’ suck-squeeze-bang-blow routine, particularly for the company’s performance machines. “I would say that maybe the majority of our RS fans are still fans of combustion-engine cars,” Döllner said. “But I think that will change over time, and so showing that adding electricity to the system is a good step, it may also help to drive that transition.”

That was partly the goal of the new RS5, which Döllner said offers an unbeatable mix of performance and everyday usability. That mix comes at a certain cost, however: “The price is definitely the weight,” he said. “We are totally aware of that.”

EVs Are Still the Way Forward

Still, Döllner is sure the future is electric, and for Audi, that future includes a production version of its well-received Concept C. The company’s minimalist coupe is still a go, despite persistent rumors suggesting Porsche could nix its own electric sports car, the 718.

“We have a series production decision for the Concept C,” Döllner said, reiterating that it will be in production toward the end of next year: “Around two years after we presented the concept, the real car will be on the road.”

Döllner added that he isn’t surprised by the talk about Porsche re-evaluating the need for an all-electric-powered sports car: “Michael Leiters, being the new CEO of Porsche, it’s natural that he questions every project.”

Rethinking the Interior Experience

For Audi, though, the Concept C isn’t just a next-gen electric sports car. It’s meant to usher in a long-needed return to form for the company’s interior experience, which Döllner admits has been lacking of late.

“To be honest, we lost a little bit of track in that field,” he said. “We are planning to bring that back to the brand. We will try to find the answer again.”

The big, chunky, tactile controls in the Concept C are key to this new era of classic tactility. Döllner said this change isn’t a response to threats of touchscreen regulations in the EU or China. Instead, it was based on what its customers wanted. “That didn’t happen by accident. We got feedback. We learned that we put too much into touchscreens.” After the Concept C, Audi’s next-generation cars will have more buttons and fewer displays.

Conceptually, Döllner said, there are some similarities between the Concept C and what Ferrari is trying to do with the interior of its upcoming Luce EV. The intent is to add focus. “We talk about clarity in that direction, to bring back what driving is all about,” he said.

So a nod to the past is the way forward for the brand, but Audi isn’t giving up on the spirit of its tagline “Vorsprung durch Technik” (progress through technology). Döllner said next-gen driver assistance systems, including full autonomy in limited situations, will be key to future products. However, the days of trying to do everything in-house are in the past. “There was a time when the automotive industry thought that vertical integration was where everybody had to go,” he said. “But especially when innovation is as fast as it is in many fields right now, if you’re vertically integrated, you’re also vertically invested, and that’s a huge risk.”

More Emotional Products to Come

Döllner believes that picking the right partners is key for maximum flexibility, and when it comes to autonomy, that means working with companies like Qualcomm and Mobileye on the software. But he won’t rush Level 3 and beyond technologies to the market. “To me, safety is the absolute priority,” he said. “This is why we, under my responsibility, first of all, have to do our homework and deliver on that promise with all the safety that our customers deserve.”

So, future Audis will be smarter driving, offer nicer, more tactile interiors, and have a minimalist look with strong ties to the Concept C. But will they truly be fun to drive? Will we get another R8?

Perhaps, but it’s not in the cards for the immediate future. “We are evaluating in the board what’s the next step to take. For now, the Concept C and the RS5,” he said. “Two very emotional products, and more to come, I can promise.”