Stephan Winkelmann was born in Berlin on October 18, 1964, and grew up in Rome, where he studied political science. He completed his university studies in Munich. He then spent two years as a paratrooper with the German military before beginning his professional career in 1991 with a German financial services company.
After holding posts with Mercedes-Benz and Fiat, in 2005 Stephan Winkelmann was appointed President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy. For his successful work with this manufacturer of exclusive sports cars, the Republic of Italy presented him in 2010 with the grade of Grand Officer and in 2014 with the Grand Cross, one of Italy’s highest orders of merit.
Since March 15, 2016, Stephan Winkelmann has been Managing Director of quattro GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of AUDI AG. He is responsible in this position for the Audi Sport brand, which is to be positioned even more autonomously in the future. This includes the development, sale and production of the R and RS models, customer racing, the lifestyle articles of the Audi Sport collection, and Audi exclusive custom vehicles.