Doellner spent much of his VW Group career at Porsche and he already knows many Audi colleagues in development functions because the two brands have a close technical cooperation. This should benefit him in his new position because there has been friction between Audi and Porsche engineers.
Doellner initially worked as a systems analyst in the group, then moved to Porsche’s development center in Weissach as project manager for reengineering. From 2001 to 2010, he was head of Porsche vehicle concepts. He also took over project management for the Porsche 918 Spyder supercar.
He then became head of the product strategy department before taking charge of the Panamera model series from 2011 to 2018. Before moving to Wolfsburg, he was head of product and concept at Porsche.
EV advocate
Doellner is considered a convinced advocate of electric drive. For him, battery power is the better alternative than the internal combustion engine not only for reasons of climate protection, but also because of its superior driving characteristics.
In the first few weeks after moving to Wolfsburg, Doellner was still commuting 330 miles in a Porsche Taycan full-electric sedan between his home near Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, as he once told the Handelsblatt business paper.
He has since brought his family to Wolfsburg and uses a VW ID3 compact electric hatchback for the short commute to work. He will now relocate to Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt in southern Germany. He could switch to an Audi E-tron GT, which uses the same platform as the Taycan.
