What is … actually doing?
… Rupert Stadler? When you search Audi’s press database and come across the keyword “sports car,” you’re reminded of long-past vehicle unveilings that the Audi CEO himself attended. Is there anything else? No, there’s absolutely nothing under the keyword “Rupert Stadler.”
And yet this man was Audi’s top executive for more than ten years. There must have been so much material accumulated that they probably had to shut down a server just to delete all the press releases. It’s as if the company’s history had been run through a particulate filter—pardon me, that was the software in the diesel engines.
Stadler was Martin Winterkorn’s crown prince when he became Winterkorn’s successor and Audi’s CEO in 2007. And he always seemed to remain just that. He always answered questions politely, was eloquent, always clean-shaven, and a figurehead: CEO of the Year in 2011, Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012, Influencer of the Year in 2013.
He had already been awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit back in 2010. He was never a visionary Audi man like the engineers Winterkorn or even Piëch. His first car was a VW Golf Cabriolet.
It wasn’t until he was 27 that he joined Audi as a controller, and at 43, he became Audi’s CEO—the first non-engineer to hold the position in Ingolstadt. A capable businessman, during whose tenure Audi’s sales doubled. Perhaps at any cost, one might almost suspect. There are indications that the VW diesel scandal originated at Audi.
For his role in this affair, he was sentenced in 2023—after pleading guilty—to one year and nine months of probation and ordered to pay 1.1 million euros. In 2025, the Federal Court of Justice rejected his appeal against the ruling.
And things might get even worse: Since June 2026, the VW Group has refused to renew the liability settlement with him. The amount in question is 41 million euros, as determined by the court—peanuts compared to the billions VW had to pay.
But if he were to have to cough that up, life would likely become a bit leaner for the once-highly-paid top executive, who today has 1,218 followers on LinkedIn as a consultant. The rest is silence. And a reset database at Audi.
