Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler named as Audi’s new technical director

German automaker Audi named Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler on Friday as its new director for technical development. Rothenpieler replaces Peter Mertens, who has been in charge since May 2017 and has asked to release him from the company for health reasons.

Having joined the Volkswagen Group in 1986, Rothenpieler has held positions of increasing importance, consisting of driving the development of automobiles to Skoda, a member of Bentley’s management boards with responsibility for technical development and a member of the management boards of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Since 2016, Rothenpieler is head of group quality management at Volkswagen.