Audi’s U.S. Chief Quits

Mark Del Rosso, who took over as president of Volkswagen AG’s Audi brand operations in the U.S. in December, has abruptly left the company.

Del Rosso (pictured) had succeeded Scott Keogh, who was promoted to head of VW of America last November. At the time, Del Rosso headed VW Group’s Bentley Motors unit in North America. Audi offered no comment on Del Rosso’s departure.

Replacing Del Rosso on an interim basis is Clan O’Brien, who will continue as chief operating officer of Audi of America. O’Brien ran Audi sales in the U.K. before joining the U.S. unit two years ago.

Del Rosso was hired eight years ago by Johan de Nysschen, then executive vice president for Audi in the Americas. He later served for nine years as COO for Audi in the region. During his tenure in that position, Audi assembled seven consecutive years of record-high sales that more than doubled its annual volume.

But Audi sales began to stumble last September, ending a streak of more than 100 consecutive months of growth. Audi sales in the U.S. fell 9% through the first four months of 2019, including a 21% drop to 15,000 units in April.