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Posts tagged michael dick
Report: Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up
May 13th
Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Volkswagen
Running a high-end automobile manufacturer like Bentley or Bugatti has got to be a dream job for most any business executive. And Wolfgang Dürheimer gets to run them both – but not for much longer, according to the latest reports coming in from trade publication Automotive News Europe.
According to ANE, the former Porsche development chief is set to move to Audi in a broad management restructure aimed at reducing the average age of Ingolstadt’s seven-member management board. In his new capacity, Dürheimer (53) is tipped to replace Audi’s current development chief, Michael Dick (60), who is expected to retire later this year.
Along with Dürheimer, Volkswagen marketing director Luca de Meo (44, formerly of Fiat) is expected to replace Audi sales chief Peter Schwartzenbauer (60), while Volkswagen purchasing manager Bernd Martens replaces his Audi counterpart Ulf Berkenhagen, who will take up the same role at the group’s commercial vehicles division. Audi production chief Frank Dreves is also expected to leave his post, though no replacement was named in the report.
Of course with any game of musical chairs – or “Reise nach Jerusalem” as they call it in German for some reason – replacements will need to be found for the positions being left vacant. We’ll be watching who is named head of Bentley and Bugatti, both roles that Dürheimer assumed from Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (pictured above at right), who last we heard was still in the group organizing its classic vehicles division.
Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 May 2012 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Audi going carbon/aluminum for next-gen R8 chassis
Oct 18th
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Audi
Cars keep getting heavier. It’s an unfortunate trend, but one that we’ve grudgingly come to accept. But the next-generation Audi R8 is tipped to buck the trend.
According to reports quoting Audi’s chief engineer Michael Dick, the 2014 R8 will undercut the current model’s weight by some 100 kilograms (220 lbs), while increasing torsional rigidity by 30%. That’s no mean feat, and to get there, Audi will reportedly build the chassis out of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber.
That last bit may benefit from the advanced carbon construction methods being developed by sister-company Lamborghini, which Audi owes to a large degree for the existence of the R8 altogether.
Will that mean the next-gen R8 will shoot up in price, or are we looking at one of the most accessible carbon-fiber supercars in a field populated by exotics three to ten times the price? We’ll have to wait and see, but we’re expecting a facelifted version of the current model before the all-new one arrives in 2014.
Audi going carbon/aluminum for next-gen R8 chassis originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Electric and plug-in hybrid Audi A2 coming in 2015?
Mar 3rd
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Audi, Europe/EU
1999-2005 Audi A2
Over the last few years, Audi has made it a habit to tease us with concept cars and chunks of associated info that would seem to indicate that the automaker’s next-generation A2 may be offered with an electric-only or some type of plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Audi got the ball rolling back in March of 2009 when Michael Dick, the automaker’s chief of research and development, stated that the firm’s upcoming small car had moved to the concept stage and would be engineered to accept both standard internal combustion engines and electric powertrains. Then, in March of 2010, rumors swirled again, this time claiming that the next A2, which was expected to debut in 2012 2014, would likely use an electric powertrain, possibly even sourced directly from the A1 e-tron concept. While those rumors were shot down, they were soon replaced with other reports claiming that an electric-only A2 was a definite possibility.
Now, it’s time to move on to the latest round of rumors. Automobile Magazine claims that the next-gen A2 will apparently be offered in electric-only and two plug-in hybrid configurations. The electric version will reportedly have a range exceeding 150 miles, while the plug-in hybrid variants will feature a choice of gasoline or diesel three-cylinder engines and boast an electric-only range of 40 to 60 miles. Apparently, the drawn out process of deciding which powertrains should be shoehorned into the compact A2 has pushed back its launch to early 2015. Maybe we’ll know for sure one of these days, but if this one turns out to be nothing more than a rumor, don’t say you weren’t warned.
[Source: Green Car Reports, Automobile Magazine]
Report: Electric and plug-in hybrid Audi A2 coming in 2015? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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