VW “temporarily releases” Rupert Stadler, appoints Abraham Schot as interim Audi chairman

Volkswagen has issued a statement that the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft has accepted the request of member of the Group Board of Management Rupert Stadler to release him from his duties as member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG.

The statement says, "The release is a temporary measure, put in place until the circumstances surrounding Stadler’s arrest have been clarified. In his capacity as chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG, Rupert Stadler was elected to the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG on 1 January 2010.

Abraham Schot, who is to take over the position of chairman of the Board of Management at Audi in the interim, will at the same time be invited to participate in the meetings of the Group Board of Management as a guest."

Abraham Schot, born on July 12, 1961, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, graduated from the University of Bradford with a Master of Business Administration. He completed additional courses of study while working, including at Harvard Business School and Insead Fontainebleau Business School. 

He began as a management trainee in 1986 at ABN-AMRO Bank. A year later, he moved to Mercedes-Benz AG where he entered the Executive Management Program. After holding various positions at Mercedes-Benz Nederland, including Assistant Sales Manager for Commercial Vehicles, Head of Corporate Strategy & Planning as well as Marketing Director for the Commercial Vehicle division, in 1998 Schot became managing director of the Mercedes Car Group for DaimlerChrysler Nederland. In 2003, he assumed the position of president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Nederland. From 2006 to 2011, he was responsible as president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler/Mercedes-Benz Italia.

In 2011, he joined the Volkswagen Group, where he oversaw strategic projects in Group Sales. Schot has been the director responsible for Marketing and Sales with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles since 2012.

Since September 1, 2017, Schot has been a Board of Management Member for Sales and Marketing at Audi AG.

Also read: Audi CEO Rupert Stadler arrested in Dieselgate investigation