Bram Schot is Audi’s new CEO

Audi has formally appointed Bram Schot as permanent CEO, a role he was given on an interim-basis after the arrest of previous CEO Rupert Stadler.

In announcing the appointment, Herbert Diess, head of the Volkswagen Group, said Schot had done a "convincing job in recent months... [in] pushing forward with the cultural change in his team and is effectively tackling the current challenges".

He will officially become the luxury marque's CEO on January 1, 2019. Schot has been the automaker's head of sales and marketing since 2017, a role a he will keep "temporarily".

Born in the Netherlands, Schot was previously head of Mercedes-Benz Italia. He became the marketing and sales chief for Volkswagen's commercial vehicles arm in 2012.

Schot was appointed interim CEO of Audi after Rupert Stadler was arrested in June by German authorities because he allegedly tried to suppress evidence related to the country's on-going Dieselgate investigation.

Stadler's contract was officially terminated in October, and he has been released on bail since the end of that month.

Earlier reports indicated the Volkswagen Group wanted to appoint Markus Duesmann, BMW's former head of purchasing, as Audi's new CEO. Reports in the German media indicate BMW has refused to free Duesmann from his contract, which ends in 2020.

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