The Chinese arm of German auto giant Audi has appointed Johannes Roscheck as president to accelerate the implementation of its electrification strategy in the world's largest electric vehicle market.
Roscheck, who is head of corporate controlling and finance at Audi with over 25 years of experience in finance and production in the auto sector, will replace Jürgen Unser from April 1, the carmaker said on Jan. 15. He will be managing Audi's China operations, it added.
Roscheck was chief executive of Audi do Brasil from 2017 to 2022 and has held other management positions at Audi's parent firm Volkswagen Group in Hungary, the United States, and Germany, the Ingolstadt-based company said. Unser will return to Germany after two years in Beijing and prepare for new tasks at Volkswagen, it noted.
"In the last two years, Audi has further expanded its presence in China and implemented important milestones in our electrification strategy," said Gernot Döllner, CEO of Audi. "We plan to further extend cooperation with our two Chinese partners in order to open up new customer and market segments quickly and thus consistently exploit the potential for smart, fully connected electric vehicles in this dynamically growing market."
Audi has two joint ventures in China with local auto giants FAW Group and SAIC Motor.
"Roscheck is exactly the right expert with international experience to take this further step in our transformation in China," Döllner added.
China is Audi's largest market in the world. Its sales in the country jumped 13.5 percent to more than 729,000 cars last year from the previous year, accounting for 38 percent of its total. Some 31,025 of the units were pure EVs.
Audi aims to only launch pure electric models globally by 2026 and stop manufacturing gasoline-powered autos by 2033, it announced in March last year.
"Volkswagen is pressing ahead consistently with the technological change towards smart electromobility in the region with its in China for China strategy," noted Ralf Brandstätter, board member of Volkswagen China. "Audi, as one of the globally leading premium brands and technological pioneer in the group, plays a key role here," he added. “Roscheck will bring decisive impulses to Audi in this transformation.”
（Picture: Veer）
