- Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: "Peter Mertens has exceptionally broad technical and international experience in the automotive industry."
Ingolstadt, November 25, 2016 – Dr. Ing. Peter Mertens has been appointed as the new Board of Management Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG. He was previously Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Corporation in Göteborg, Sweden.
Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, praised Mertens as a specialist with an exceptional breadth of experience: "Mertens has exceptionally broad technical expertise and an international background in the automotive industry. These are ideal qualifications for him to make further progress with the Technical Development division at Audi."
After his apprenticeship as a toolmaker, Peter Mertens studied production technology at Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences. In 1985, he gained a master of science degree in industrial engineering and operations research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the United States. Between 1985 and 1990, he was head of the technology transfer department at the University of Kaiserslautern, where he gained a doctorate in engineering.
His first position in the automotive industry was at the then Mercedes-Benz AG, where he passed through several management positions as of 1990. In 1996, he was appointed chief executive of Tegaron Telematics GmbH, a joint venture between DaimlerChrysler Services AG and Deutsche Telekom AG in Bonn. In 2002, he moved to Adam Opel AG, first as executive director for medium-sized and large model series. This was followed by responsibility for the compact cars of General Motors Europe in 2004 and for all compact cars of General Motors worldwide in 2005. In late 2010, Mertens was appointed to the management board of Jaguar Land Rover and was responsible for corporate quality for the entire Tata Motors Group including Jaguar Land Rover. As of March 2011, he was Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Corporation.
Peter Mertens was born in 1961. He is married and has three children.
The Audi Group, with its brands Audi, Ducati and Lamborghini, is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the premium segment. It is present in more than 100 markets worldwide and produces at 16 locations in twelve countries. In the second half of 2016, the production of the Audi Q5 will start in San José Chiapa (Mexico). 100-percent subsidiaries of AUDI AG include quattro GmbH (Neckarsulm), Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. (Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy) and Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. (Bologna, Italy).
In 2015, the Audi Group delivered to customers approximately 1.8 million automobiles of the Audi brand, 3,245 sports cars of the Lamborghini brand and about 54,800 motorcycles of the Ducati brand. In the 2015 financial year, the Audi Group achieved total revenue of €58.4 billion and an operating profit of €4.8 billion. At present, approximately 85,000 people work for the company all over the world, about 60,000 of them in Germany. Audi focuses on new products and sustainable technologies for the future of mobility.