“Questions and lack of understanding” – This is how Audi boss Döllner now justifies his appearance with Trump

Audi boss Gernot Döllner justifies his appearance together with US President Donald Trump, which has brought him massive criticism and calls for his resignation. He emphasized in an internal letter to employees that the dpa has received the action in the interests of the company. A statement on the Audi website goes in a similar direction. In both cases, Döllner also admits that the appearance caused “questions and a lack of understanding”.

Production director Gerd Walker and he were in Georgia to advance discussions and negotiations about the planned plant. “As part of our discussions, we were asked to publicly present our plans together with the President of the United States of America,” writes Döllner. “We made the decision to accept this invitation solely in the interests of the company.” Since the discussions were confidential, it was not possible to provide information about them in advance.

“At the same time, we see that the framework of the announcement was perceived as a political signal,” writes Döllner. “We take this very seriously.” You stand by the company's values, but you also take responsibility for Audi's economic future.

Döllner also defended the decision to build a factory. “Local production in the USA is of great strategic and economic importance for Audi.” The USA is the second largest premium market in the world, but Audi's business there is “not profitable today”. Many competitors had already had local production for years. Own production enables Audi to become more competitive, reduce trade and currency risks and make better use of our growth potential.

“A stronger US business is therefore not a decision against Germany, but rather an important contribution to Audi’s global competitiveness and to securing the company’s long-term success,” emphasizes the head of the car manufacturer.

The joint appearance with Trump caused a great surprise but also sharp criticism and even calls for his resignation. One aspect of this is that Audin's internal rules exclude publicly effective appointments with parties or politicians standing for election in the last three months before elections. There are midterm elections in the USA on November 3rd.

“Several minutes full of racism, sexism, xenophobia, transphobia, contempt for democracy - and then one of our top company representatives comes onto the stage and actively helps the election campaign,” said VW Group works council boss Daniela Cavallo in an internal interview that was available to the German Press Agency. Anyone who heard Trump's speech and then noticed that Döllner had become an active part of this event must "sink into the ground with shame."

Audi said the decision focused on "the opportunity to advance the conditions for Audi's long-term investment in the United States." "Such an investment is designed to last for decades and therefore far beyond individual election periods. In this special situation, it was important to take appropriate account of the company's interests and a specific time frame for the project." This does not question the internal principles. “Participation served exclusively to represent specific company interests in connection with the planned investment project and was not an expression of a party-political position.”