Audi Club North America Welcomes New Executive Director

Oconomowoc, WI – Audi Club North America welcomes Paul Truess as its new Executive Director. Truess takes over the position, replacing Karen Chadwick. Chadwick served Audi Club North America for 22 years before announcing her retirement this year. Paul brings extensive auto industry experience spanning from professional auto racing to major car company new vehicle introductions and race track events. He has worked with all the US auto manufacturers and most of the major European and Asian marques.

In the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am series, Truess worked for multi-record-setting driver Greg Pickett. He served as Crew Chief for legendary Audi rally car driver, John Buffum and his Libra Racing stable. As part of the founding leadership team of Flying Lizard Motorsports, Paul helped build the start-up sports car endurance team to international prominence. During his tenure, the team saw unprecedented inaugural season success in the IMSA sports car series and was invited twice to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance racing classic.

Truess was co-founder and President of an automotive events company. He designed and produced new vehicle introductions and national auto dealer programs. Paul delivered auto expert presentations for auto company videos and dealer satellite networks. He has designed and produced national new model introductions for the Volkswagen New Beetle, Mercedes-Benz ML, BMW X5 and Jaguar X-Type.

Audi Club North America Board President, Connie Johnson said, “We are excited to have Paul Truess on board as our new Executive Director. He brings a wide background of experience in the auto industry and will help elevate our club to the next level.”

“I am honored to be chosen to lead Audi Club into the future. I have a huge challenge in front of me to carry on the legacy Karen Chadwick created for Audi Club North America,” Truess replied.

Johnson continued, “A sincere thank-you to Karen for her more than two decades of service to the Club and the massive growth in membership and reputation she brought about.”

Truess added, “Audi Club has a great opportunity to build on the foundation we have. My mission is to draw on the enthusiasm of our members and their unique role as brand ambassadors for Audi and lead Audi Club North America to the next level.”

Paul is a FAA licensed pilot and an active downhill skier. He currently drives an Audi A4 Avant quattro.

Audi Club North America is the largest Audi owners club in the world. The approximately 10,000 Audi Club members share the passion of Audi ownership across the U.S. and Canada by engaging in activities organized by their fellow Audi Club members. Thirty-one Audi Club Chapters conduct over 450 events per year, providing unique opportunities to enhance the Audi ownership experience by offering exciting, fun, social, technical and driver education activities in North America.