Siegfried Schmidtner - Biography
Plant Manager Audi Ingolstadt site
Siegfried Schmidtner was born in Ingolstadt in 1971. After obtaining his high-school diploma, he studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, specializing in Construction and Development. He then completed a doctorate in Product Design and Process Chain Planning at Chemnitz University of Technology. In 1998, he joined Audi in Engine and Chassis Planning. As Head of Production Planning for six and eight-cylinder engines, Schmidtner spent two years in charge of all V6 and V8 engine projects at the Hungarian site in Győr. In 2006, Schmidtner became Head of the Audi A3 Ramp-Up and Analysis Center in Ingolstadt. Three years later, he moved to Vehicle Production Ingolstadt, heading up production of the Audi A3, the Audi TT and subsequently the Audi Q2. Among other things, he was responsible for the initial ramp-up of the Q2 and the ramp-up of the third generation of the Audi A3. As Project manager, he assumed responsibility in 2017 for the planning and control of all production activities for vehicle and platform projects for the Electric premium platform and the B series, i.e. the Audi A4, Audi A5, and Audi Q5, including the plug-in hybrids, in the Production division. From November 2018, Siegfried Schmidtner was responsible for the central functions of production at AUDI AG, with a focus on production strategy, digitalization and transformation in the Production division. Among other things, the current matrix-oriented structure was created there. In October 2019, Schmidtner took over management of the newly created Product Engineering department, at the intersection between the Production and Technical Development divisions. There, he was responsible for the virtual and physical assurance of product maturity and technical feasibility, worldwide production ramp-ups and the construction of all of the Audi brand’s prototypes and pre-series vehicles.
Dr. Rüdiger Recknagel - Biography
Chief Environmental Officer for the Audi Group Managing Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation (Audi Stiftung für Umwelt GmbH)
Rüdiger Recknagel was born in Karlsruhe in 1963. After studying process engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, Recknagel earned his doctorate in the field of heterogeneous catalysis for a petrochemical process at the Institute of Chemical and Process Engineering in Karlsruhe. He began his professional career in 1994 at AUDI AG in Ingolstadt as a technical coordinator in the Ingolstadt paint shop. Following various management positions in the paint shop, he was responsible for the start-up of the first environmentally friendly water-based paint line at the Ingolstadt plant in 1998. Recknagel next headed the area of Corrosion protection in Technical Development in Ingolstadt. At the same time, he was project manager for the construction of the new Audi Corrosion Protection Center in Neustadt an der Donau. This was followed by positions as Head of Quality Assurance for the paint shop in Ingolstadt and as Head of Quality Analysis for the entire Ingolstadt site. As of 2011, Recknagel was responsible for the A4/A5/Q5 paint shop at the Ingolstadt plant. At the same time, he was involved in the planning of one of the most environmentally friendly and modern paint shops in the Group. Rüdiger Recknagel has been Head of Environmental Protection for the Audi Group since February 2016. He is also Managing Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation (Audi Stiftung für Umwelt GmbH). This consolidation of duties means that Recknagel is responsible for all facets of environmental protection at the Four Rings.