Roland Gumpert (born 10 December 1944) is a German engineer and founder of the

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

manufacturer

Apollo Automobil Apollo Automobil (previously known as Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur) is a German sports car manufacturer headquartered in Denkendorf. Roland Gumpert, who founded Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur in 2004, once held the position of director of Audi Spo ...

. Gumpert is currently the managing director of the sports car manufacturer Gumpert Aiways Automobile, in which he also founded.

Biography

Engineer at Audi

Gumpert studied mechanical engineering at the

Graz University of Technology Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...

. After graduating as a graduate engineer, he worked from 1969 as a test engineer for vehicle development at

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

AG in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

. From 1972 he then worked as a test manager and type supervisor for the

Audi 50 The Audi 50 (known internally as the ''Typ'' 86) is a supermini economy car produced by German automaker Audi from 1974 to 1978, and sold only in Europe. Introduced two or three years after the Italian Fiat 127 and the French Renault 5, the model ...

. In 1974, Gumpert became head of the pre-development and testing department. Between 1975 and 1977, he developed a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

for Audi, the Z02, which was rejected by the responsible

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

manager. The selectable

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

of the

Volkswagen Iltis The Volkswagen Type 183, more commonly known as the Iltis (German for polecat), is a military vehicle built by Volkswagen for use by the German military. The Iltis was formerly built under licence in Canada by Bombardier Inc. Although the two ...

was also one of his projects at this time. In 1977, Gumpert moved to the chassis and assembly testing department. Finally, in 1981 Gumpert became Head of Sport and Special Development at Audi Sport. Under his leadership as race director, Audi won 25 rally championships and 4 rally world championship titles. In 1986, Gumpert was head of technical development overseas and in 1992, he was responsible for sales and marketing for the Asia-Pacific region. In 1999, Gumpert was appointed to the sales and marketing board member "VW-Audi Joint Venture China".

Managing director of Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur

Together with Roland Mayer, the owner of Motoren Technik Mayer, Gumpert developed the

Gumpert Apollo The Gumpert Apollo was a sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH in Altenburg. Gumpert filed for bankruptcy in August 2013, thereby ending the production of the Apollo. History In 2000, Roland ...

super sports car. Gumpert left Audi AG in the same year when GMG Sportwagenmanufaktur Altenburg was founded. A year later, the factory, of which he became managing director, was renamed Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur. After the insolvency and the sale of the sports car manufacturer in 2014, Gumpert left it. This company was renamed

GmbH after the acquisition by its new owner.

Gumpert Aiways Automobile

After a career break of several years, Gumpert returned in 2017 as CEO of Gumpert Aiways Automobile. As the leading developer of the methanol electric sports car Gumpert Nathalie, he has since been one of the pioneers of methanol fuel cell technology in the automotive industry.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumpert, Roland 1944 births Living people People from Głuchołazy German automotive engineers German mechanical engineers German founders of automobile manufacturers 20th-century German engineers 21st-century German engineers