Bentley, Bugatti Confirm New CEOs

Volkswagen AG’s Bentley and Bugatti units have named Adrian Hallmark and Stephan Winkelmann, respectively, as their new CEOs to replace the retiring Wolfgang Durheimer, who had headed both supercar brands.

Winkelmann will start his new job January 1, while Hallmark is set to begin a month later. The moves confirm several industry reports from last month.

Winkelmann (left) joined VW Group 12 years ago and has headed Audi Sport operation (formerly Audi Quattro) since March 2016. He also led Lamborghini and was a senior executive for Fiat. Winkelmann’s initial priorities at Bugatti will include the development and introduction of the Grand Sport and Super Sport variants of the Chiron.

Hallmark (right) most recently was global strategy director for Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. He also worked at Spyker Cars NV’s Saab Automobile unit and had a previous stint at Volkswagen Group, including senior executive posts at Bentley and for Volkswagen of America.

In conjunction with Hallmark’s appointment, Bentley is replacing three board members on Jan. 1:

• Werner Tietz, who has spent the past 25 years with Porsche and Audi, will succeed Rolf Frech as engineering member
• Chris Craft becomes board member for sales and marketing, succeeding Andreas Offermann
• Astrid Fontaine, previously vice president of human resources at Porsche North America, will oversee people, digitalization and information technology for Bentley

Duerheimer (left), who has been chairman and CEO of Bentley and Bugatti since mid-2014, will continue to work with VW Group as a motorsports advisor. He previously led Bentley and Bugatti from 2010 to 2012. Duerheimer briefly headed Audi’s research and development operations before returning to the supercar marques.