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He made a steep run and was described as a “problem solver” – Rupert Stadler had risen to the top as Audi boss, but then came the diesel scandal. Now you have to answer in court.
By Arne Meyer-Fünffinger, ARD capital studio
In April 2013, then-Audi boss Rupert Stadler was sitting in the reading room at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. The station has set up a small television studio there for the “Forum Manager” talk show. A laid-back Stadler has sat in front of the light blue backdrop and is chatting relaxed about himself and the company he is boss of. The diesel scandal, in which Audi should be deeply involved, is still a long way off.
Stadler wears a dark suit and square rimless glasses. “Built in 63, happily married, three children,” he describes himself. “And I think I’m basically a completely normal guy, athletic, dynamic, humanly fair. That’s how I would rate myself.”
At this time, Stadler was CEO of Audi for six years. In 2007, he took over the CEO presidency from Martin Winterkorn, who has just moved to the top of VW in Wolfsburg. Stadler has risen to the top in Ingolstadt, in his homeland.
Confidants call him “Bauernbua”
Unlike his predecessors, corporate patriarch Ferdinand Piech and Martin Winterkorn, Stadler did not learn to design cars and engines from scratch. It comes from a farm in Titting, not far from Ingolstadt. That is why corporate executives sometimes call him “Bauernbua” in confidential discussions.
Stadler studies business administration at the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and ends up at Audi in 1990 after a brief layover at Philips AG. He went to Spain for the automaker and, back in Germany, began working in 1997 as General Secretary to then-VW CEO Ferdinand Piech. He “challenged him, and then he also cheered me on.” To the top of Audi.
Audi wants to conquer America with “Clean Diesel”
Some even trust Stadler to make the big leap to Wolfsburg. Business at Audi is going very well and the new CEO will drive Audi’s expansion from 2007. For example in the United States: the company will conquer the market there with the diesel engine. With only a few months in office, Stadler stands in front of an SUV at the LA Motorshow and is delighted that people on the other side of the pond are now thinking about fuel consumption, too. “Clean Diesel” – with this, the company wants to conquer the local market with a technology “that we also want here in the United States.”
“Clean” is nothing on VW and Audi diesel vehicles. In September 2015, the American authorities first learned about VW and then Audi: the diesel vehicles of the two manufacturers are dirty on the road, in real operation, on the road. The fact that they emit significantly less pollutants on the test bench is due to shutdown devices not allowed in the engine control software. Among other things, they recognize that the vehicles are on a dyno and therefore switch to clean mode. Investigation of BR It will later show that Audi even installed several of these software strategies in its diesel vehicles.
Raid during the annual press conference
In 2017, the Munich II prosecutor’s office launched investigations, initially against unknown persons, including an alleged fraud. At the latest, after local authorities have found deactivation devices in European Audi diesel vehicles, Audi is knee-deep in a mess.
First negative climax for Stadler: On March 15, 2017, in parallel with the annual press conference in Ingolstadt, the prosecution had the corporate headquarters searched. A bad time, because Stadler will present the 2016 business figures at the annual press conference this morning. But they become a minor matter. Stadler keeps his mouth shut: “We cooperate fully with the authorities. That goes without saying. That is our own central interest.”
Since 2018 also investigations against Stadler
At this time, according to the investigating prosecutor in Munich II, the investigation is not yet about individuals. In May 2018, these will also be directed against Stadler personally. Investigators accuse him of “having knowledge of the manipulation since September 2015 and not intervening.”
To this day, Stadler has denied any responsibility for the scandal or even any early involvement. He described his role in the group before 2013 as follows: He was the most critical customer of the Audi brand. “And I think I have the gift of understanding technology interrelationships very, very deeply, and also really questioning them.”
First custody, then prosecution
The prosecution increasingly questions Stadler’s role in the diesel scandal. Due to the risk of a blackout, he even had to be in custody for a few months. In the end, the authorities charge him and three other defendants. The accusations: fraud, indirect false certification and criminal advertising.
“Problem solver” – that’s what the current Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess called him. Stadler likes to see himself as a career optimist, “because I say you can take a chance out of every crisis.” What opportunities do you see in the process that is now beginning? It is not yet clear. Stadler has been missing since his release.
