Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann will head Audi’s quattro subsidiary starting March 15.
The German automaker made the news official with Winkelmann taking over for current head of quattro, Heinz Hollerweger, who is retiring after almost 40 years of working for Audi. Winkelmann will take over quattro GmbH, a 100-percent subsidiary of Audi AG that is responsible for the company’s high-performance R and RS models. He will leave his position at Lamborghini, where he has been president and CEO since January 1, 2005.
Under his leadership, Winkelmann guided Lamborghini to great success in the past decade, tripling the number of Lamborghini dealerships as well as setting a new sales record of 3,245 units in 2015. Prior to becoming CEO of Lamborghini, Winkelmann was the board of management chairman of Fiat Auto Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
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Falling under quattro GmbH is the Audi Sport brand with customer motorsport, the development and distribution of the R and RS models, the accessories of the Audi Sport collection and the car-customizing services of Audi exclusive. In announcing Winkelmann’s new position, the company also revealed that the Audi Sport brand will be positioned more clearly in the future.
Hollerweger became head of quattro GmbH in April 2014 and helped lead the expansion of the RS portfolio and the development of the new Audi R8.
Stefano Domenicali, former team principal of Ferrari’s Formula One division, will be replacing Winkelmann.
