UPDATE: Audi May Dismiss Four Board Members in September

Audi AG is mulling the removal of four management board members as a warning to CEO Rupert Stadler about his lackluster performance, according to Handelsblatt, which cites no sources.

The financial daily says the targeted executives are Thomas Sigi, Audi’s personnel chief; Axel Strotbek, who heads finance; Dietmar Voggenreiter, marketing leader; and Hubert Waitl, head of production. The newspaper says their possible dismissals will be discussed when the board meets on Sept. 29.

Handelsblatt says Stadler would remain as CEO. His contract was renewed in May for five years by a unanimous vote of Audi’s supervisory board. But last month sources told Reuters the extension was contingent on Stadler stepping down before the extension ends. Audi dismisses such reports as false speculation.

Stadler has led Audi through six years of consistent sales growth. But his goal of outselling the company’s rivals by 2020 to become the world’s largest supplier of luxury cars appears increasingly unlikely. Audi deliveries through the first half of 2017 shrank 5% to 909,000 units against gains by Mercedes-Benz (+15% to 1.14 million) and BMW (+5% to 1.04 million), according to company sales reports.

Stadler also has been sharply criticized for his handling of Audi’s role in VW’s diesel cheating scandal. Several Audi offices were raided in March by prosecutors seeking to clarify the company’s role in developing some of the doctored engines.