Axel Mees Vice President of Audi of America has left the Company effective immediately.
11-17-2004, 03:14 PM
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Here is the article!
Axel Mees axed at Audi
Criticism of VW Phaeton, Piech leads to ouster
By Ralph Kisiel
Automotive News / November 17, 2004
DETROIT -- Axel Mees has been fired from his job as head of Audi of America Inc. for critical comments he made about the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury sedan and former Volkswagen AG Chairman Ferdinand Piech.
Mees has been vice president of Audi of America Inc. only since March 1. The comments that got him fired were made during his first major press event in San Francisco on Nov. 8. They were reported in the Nov. 15 issue of Automotive News.
Mees, 53, told writers that the VW Phaeton was not selling because Volkswagen underestimated the weakness of the VW brand in the luxury market.
He also stated that Piech "was an engineer and he wanted to prove that he can build great cars, and he didn't look at the marketing aspect, the brand aspect."
His dismissal comes just nine days after he made the comments during the launch of the redesigned Audi A6 sedan.
A terse statement released this morning by Audi of America in Auburn Hills, Mich., acknowledges only that Mees "has left the company."
A spokesman for Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, Germany, said that Mees was fired solely for the critical comments he made and not for slumping Audi sales in the United States.
Mees was responsible for the Audi brand in both the United States and Canada.
The company statement also said, "The current Audi leadership team will lead the brand and all its efforts until a new vice president is named."
The brouhaha comes at a critical time for Audi dealers in the United States and Canada. With last week's launch of the redesigned A6 sedan, Audi of America has embarked on a product blitz that will continue into 2006. Gerd Klauss, head of Volkswagen of America Inc., was unavailable for comment this morning. Mees reported to Klauss.
Criticism of VW Phaeton, Piech leads to ouster
By Ralph Kisiel
Automotive News / November 17, 2004
DETROIT -- Axel Mees has been fired from his job as head of Audi of America Inc. for critical comments he made about the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury sedan and former Volkswagen AG Chairman Ferdinand Piech.
Mees has been vice president of Audi of America Inc. only since March 1. The comments that got him fired were made during his first major press event in San Francisco on Nov. 8. They were reported in the Nov. 15 issue of Automotive News.
Mees, 53, told writers that the VW Phaeton was not selling because Volkswagen underestimated the weakness of the VW brand in the luxury market.
He also stated that Piech "was an engineer and he wanted to prove that he can build great cars, and he didn't look at the marketing aspect, the brand aspect."
His dismissal comes just nine days after he made the comments during the launch of the redesigned Audi A6 sedan.
A terse statement released this morning by Audi of America in Auburn Hills, Mich., acknowledges only that Mees "has left the company."
A spokesman for Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, Germany, said that Mees was fired solely for the critical comments he made and not for slumping Audi sales in the United States.
Mees was responsible for the Audi brand in both the United States and Canada.
The company statement also said, "The current Audi leadership team will lead the brand and all its efforts until a new vice president is named."
The brouhaha comes at a critical time for Audi dealers in the United States and Canada. With last week's launch of the redesigned A6 sedan, Audi of America has embarked on a product blitz that will continue into 2006. Gerd Klauss, head of Volkswagen of America Inc., was unavailable for comment this morning. Mees reported to Klauss.
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