Stephan Winkelmann is Mr RS & R8 at Audi. With new strategic priorities.
After a stint as CEO of Lamborghini from 2005 to 2016, Stephan Winkelmann has taken over the leadership of Quattro Gmbh, the performance motorsport division of Audi. We sat down with him to discuss his strategic priorities for the evolution of the performance arm of Audi.
Q: You have been in your new position for about a year now ?
A: It will be 7 months on the 15th October. It has been short. We have a lot to do. We are working on all the things which are normal business, all the operational stuff which never stops, and then on the other hand, I needed to get up to speed on what is different from my previous job. And we are working hard on the strategy. Strategy is all that matters at the end of the day if you want to bring the company to a new start.
Q: What are your priorities for Quattro Gmbh ?
A: We are going to change the name of the Quattro company into Audi Sport. The main reason is motorsport in whatever we do. The rally successes, all the races in the last decade, they all underline our DNA. On the other hand, we already have the red rombus, Audi Sport, there is a perfect fit with the R8 and RS models. There is a recognizability in what we are going to do. This is just the headline. It is important to give a signal that things are changing.
Q: So you want to make a statement that there is an inflection point ?
A: Yes. We have to look at what we want as an image, what the company is standing for, and how this is matching with our idea of the products we have today and for the future. For me, it is clear that on the product side, we have two or three challenges.
How is the product portfolio going to be in the future, what type of cars. Are we going to reduce our efforts, are we going for volume or prestige ? And our answer is that we are going for exclusiveness of the cars. So it is not so much about how many models we are going to have, not so much how much sales, but more how we position the brand and the cars as prestige objects which also have a lighthouse function for the entire Audi AG and for the Audi brand.
Then we have to confirm and look what is the key idea behind an RS or an R8 model. The core value of the product, the balance between performance and daily usability. These two things. The car that you are testing today (NDR the Audi R8 Spyder) is at one extreme, but on the other extreme, you have the RS6 Avant for example. It is about performance, design, comfort and quality.
We have to continue to do what we do best, such as the high revs engines. We have to look into the segments which are the most prestigious ones. We have to go into a new horizon in terms of sustainability, and sustainability has to be linked with sportiness.
Q: You articulate clear problem statements: the balance between performance and usability, prestige and exclusivity, is your mind already made up as to what where you are going to steer Audi Sport ?
A: It is hard to draw a straight line. There will be a lot of detours and hick-ups along the way, but we know where we want to go. It is a big company which is part of a big group, so all the things have to be realizable, they have to realistic in terms of profit and loss, but we have a major direction we are looking into. If you want to have lighthouse product, it is not important that you see it at every street corner, but when you see it, you have to have a wow effect. It is going to be a muse in the best case, when you see the car, it is what you would like to have. It has a cascading effect on all of the other cars of Audi AG.
Q: Does it mean that an RS car in the future is to make more of a design statement, has to be more differentiated compared to the platform models they are derived from ?
If you look at the cars over generations, they are getting sharper and sharper in terms of design. It is also clear that the RS6 Avant which is one of the stars, it is already a car difficult to improve upon. This is one of the challenges, but design is only one aspect. To reduce it in one sentence, it is about having an athlete into a suit. I am not looking for the maximum in performance, but the balance of sportiness and elegance.
Q: So you are not going for proliferation like your competitors.
A: Who ?
Q: AMG, for instance, is proliferating the brand ..
A: (laughs) yes, I know what they are doing. I am looking for prestige and this means more SUVs, because size matters. Size in the car business is still one of the clear signs (of prestige and exclusivity). I really think that this is one of the directions we have to pursue. But not only. We have to pick those models where there is the most benefit to the brand and the company. For example, the RS3 Limousine which I presented in Paris last week. On one hand, it is the entry level, but it is also very exclusive with the 5 cylinder engine. It is a car that is making a difference, picking from our roots in motorsport. Exclusivity is not only size, however. When you think of the first generation R8, when it came out, it was something that really jump started the Audi brand. It was another level, it was a flagship. The idea that has to be behind every model is that it moves the brand, and not by just putting as many cars as possible on the streets.
Q: Are you satisfied of products like the RS Q3 ? Do you consider that a success ?
A: Good point. The RS Q3 is a great success, but it is also a car which at the entry level has a differentiation which is not that big a difference to other cars. It was the right direction to make a statement in the Q familly, but the next step must be even better.
Q: So growth is not your main objective ?
A: We doubled our sales in the last five years, and we will grow this year, but it is not our main focus. Volume is important, but it is even more important to have a good geographical distribution. Today we are very Europe-centric. The cars that we are going to launch have to be as much world cars as possible. We have to become a real global player. If you have a huge part of the world where you can grow just by going there, it is clear that your volumes will rise automatically.
Q: Does it mean less Avant cars in the RS line up ?
A: As I said, this is my vision. There are things which are in the pipeline which I don’t want to change even I maybe could.
Q: What about customer racing products like Porsche is doing ? A one make racing series ?
A: Customer racing is one of the things we are still working on as part of our strategy, but it is one of the things i really want to enter more and more. We have the R8 GT3 car which is very successful, we are entering a new series with the RS3 LMS car. We want to get into different categories, the prerequisite being that they are racing worldwide, and that these categories slice the pyramid from GT3, the top of customer racing, so that we can have different customers racing with us. This is important for the awareness and image of the brand, and the main driver here is not the public attending races, but social media. We are also thinking about a one make series. It is not something that can happen overnight, but we want to cultivate the family atmosphere that surrounds customer racing. A very important thing is that these cars are recognizable.
Q: Sustainability: are you looking at hybrid RS cars, is that compatible with the brand ? is it too soon ?
A: It is a bit premature, but I look further down the road, and for me, their might be a hybrid idea behind one car or another. The question is how we are going to define these cars together with the Audi Sport brand. How many meters are you going to over in the first 2.5 seconds ? How many times are you able to go from 0 to 100 km/h without recharging ? How long are you able to hold top speed ? Etc … What is the range, what is the weight, what type of brakes do you need ? You have to find a new positionning otherwise they won’t be successful. It will be more and more a matter of legislation, and a shift in the mindset of the people. Yes, i want to have a sporty car, but it has to be sustainable. What your neighbour has to say about your car is becoming increasingly important. It is very difficult to imagine the things happening, but if you don’t start thinking and doing, you will get it wrong. The maximum you can do is always the minimum, this is what i learned in this business.
It is not enough to make a car that has very low emissions. Which bodystyle is credible ? If you take a supersports car and you put a battery in it, maybe the credibility is not at the highest, because the public has a different expectation as to how this car should behave.
Q: Your assessment of the Audi R8 e-tron ?
A: This was a good test lab for all that is happening within Audi in terms of electrification. It was not about the model itself, but about what electrification means in terms of development, what you need to learn in terms of testing. It was a very good exercize.
Q: RS5 TDI: there was a concept, is that still a viable direction given all of the events surrounding diesel ?
A: RS cars only have one model, and if you want to go worldwide with one model, with diesel, you are falling short, I never say never, but for the time being, there is no plan for a diesel engine in an RS car.
Links
Forum topic – Audi articles – the list of road tests – on the same themes:
