Audi is undergoing a significant structural realignment by creating a new Board of Management department for ‘Innovation and Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV)’. This move underscores Audi’s commitment to giving software a more central role in its future direction.
The new department will be led by Geoffrey Bouquot, previously Group CTO & Senior Vice President Strategy at Valeo, bringing extensive experience in managing and transforming large development and software teams. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner highlighted the importance of innovation, stating, “Vorsprung durch Technik is our ambition, and innovation is the key to our fitness for the future. We need a thorough structural realignment to achieve a faster pace of development and a clear focus on software.”
The decision to appoint Bouquot reflects Audi’s strategic shift towards a software-centered organization. The move comes as Audi aims to accelerate its development work, particularly in response to software-related delays in the launch of its first Audi on the new PPE platform, the Q6 e-tron.
Bouquot expressed enthusiasm for his new role, stating, “Audi for me represents precision and the future – engineering and digitalization. I am looking forward to my new role.” He emphasized the importance of efficiency and digitalization in achieving Audi’s goals.
The restructuring at Audi follows the appointment of Gernot Döllner as CEO in September 2023. Döllner has been implementing his strategy at Audi, resulting in changes to model planning, organization, and management personnel. The establishment of the Innovation and Software division marks a significant step in Audi’s evolution towards a more software-centric approach to vehicle development.
