Audi has handed its China business to a Chinese national for the first time in the history of the brand’s operations there. Jeff Zhang takes over as president of Audi China from 1 November 2026, the company said on 22 October, replacing Johannes Roscheck, who returns to the Ingolstadt headquarters in early 2027.
Zhang brings more than 20 years of international automotive management. Before joining Audi he was vice president of Chery International and chief executive of the Chery brand, having previously run Chery’s European business. He also served as managing director for Alfa Romeo and DS in China at Stellantis.
The appointment is a return. Between 2018 and 2020 Zhang held senior roles at Audi China, where he built the sales organisation for SAIC-Audi and worked on strategy projects for FAW-Audi.
A two-person board, and a smaller one
Rolf Michl, formerly managing director of Audi Sport, moves to Audi China as chief operating officer. Together with Zhang he forms a slimmed-down two-person management board. Rouven Mohr, the group’s board member for technical development, takes temporary charge of Audi Sport to keep the performance business steady through the transition.
Chief executive Gernot Döllner said the aim is to combine international experience with a deep understanding of the Chinese market so the company can respond to customers faster.
The number that explains the timing
Audi brand deliveries in China reached about 232,000 units in the first half of 2026, down from 288,000 a year earlier. That is a fall of roughly one fifth in the group’s largest single market, during the period when local premium rivals were adding electric models and software features at a faster cadence.
Handing the market to an executive who ran a Chinese brand’s export push, and who once built a joint-venture sales arm inside Audi, is a statement about where product decisions are expected to be made. Ingolstadt is no longer the only room where Audi’s China choices get settled.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Gasgoo report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://auto.gasgoo.com/news/202610/22I70475617C109.shtml.