Audi U.S. chief Del Rosso resigns

After less than half a year at the helm of Audi of America, President Mark Del Rosso has stepped down, effective immediately.

He will be replaced on an interim basis by COO Cian O'Brien. In a news release announcing the executive changes, Audi did not elaborate on Del Rosso's departure.

In December, Del Rosso succeeded Scott Keogh, who became CEO of Volkswagen Group of America in November. He previously headed Bentley's Americas division and spent nine years as COO of Audi of America.

Del Rosso was hired at Audi of America in January 2008 by Johan de Nysschen, who was the region's executive vice president. Del Rosso worked alongside Keogh, who was Audi's chief marketing officer when he arrived and picked to succeed de Nysschen when he left in 2012 to lead Infiniti.

Audi said that during Del Rosso's nearly nine years leading its U.S. sales operation, the company recorded seven consecutive years of record sales, strengthened the financial health of the dealer network and managed profitable growth to ensure greater franchise value.

The brand recorded 107 consecutive months of U.S. sales; the streak ended in September last year.

O'Brien, named an Automotive News Rising Star last year, has more than two decades of experience in the automotive industry, including leading the sales operation of Audi UK.

O'Brien has spent most of his career on the retail side of the industry. Before joining Audi UK, Audi said, he was director of Seat Ireland. Prior to that, he was general manager of aftersales for Audi Ireland, used car/fleet manager for Audi Ireland and a brand director at Kevin O'Leary Motor Group. He also worked at a Lexus dealership in Ireland, where he headed an eight-person sales team. O'Brien began his automotive career as a salesman at a Volkswagen-Audi dealership while in college.

He learned that luxury-brand customers are the same the world over.

"I would submit that premium customers are savvy; they know what they're looking for," O'Brien told Automotive News last year. "There's very little variance between the UK and the U.S. in that regard."

Audi's U.S. sales fell 21 percent in April to 15,024 units. This year's sales are down 8.7 percent through April in a luxury market that is down 1.3 percent overall.

Larry P. Vellequette contributed to this report.