EV marketing wunderkind appointed Audi brand SVP

Audi has appointed former BMW and Byton EV marketing wunderkind Henrik Wenders as its Audi brand senior vice president effective from April 1.

The company says Wenders will take over the responsibility for the realignment and global marketing of the brand. He will be in charge of brand strategy, customer insights and brand communication as well as digital, experiential and sports marketing.

Sven Schuwirth, who previously held the position, will now be responsible for digital experience and business. Audi says it is making the brand function and the digital experience and digital function into two independent organisational areas.

Audi says the Digital Experience and Business area, headed by Schuwirth, focuses primarily on premium services in and around the car, new mobility services, establishing a digital ecosystem and digital commerce.

“The development of new, digital business models is a clear priority for us. We are ensuring that the digital user experience is brand-specific,” says Schuwirth.

Schuwirth has more than 20 years of industry experience in sales and marketing. He built up the growth area of digitalization at Audi from the start and has thus shaped it considerably.

Audi says Wenders brings expertise in the Chinese market, electric mobility and digitalisation to the brand team. He developed the Chinese start-up Byton into a global fully-electric premium brand within three years as Vice President of Marketing. He was also responsible for digital and vehicle product management as well as the development of an after sales and service and market entry strategy.

Wenders (47) began his professional career in 1992 as an advertising sales assistant. He was a consultant at Grey Group Central Europa and Jung von Matt advertising agencies. He became a member of the board of management for marketing and sales at 100world.media AG in 2001.

He held various management positions at BMW AG from 2002 to 2016. He was most recently Vice President Product Management BMW for communication, sales and after sales in the electric car division. He moved to Byton Ltd. in 2016, first to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai.