Audi increases upfront expenditure for electric mobility; €12B by 2024

Audi AG plans an outlay of approximately €37 billion for research and development expenditure and investment in property, plant and equipment over the next five years (2020 to 2024).

The current planning reflects a significant improvement in investment and cost discipline, as well as the strong prioritization of investments in electric mobility. The manufacturer is planning an upfront expenditure of €12 billion solely for electric mobility—more than ever before.

The Audi Transformation Plan (ATP), launched two years ago, is freeing up the necessary funds. Since the start of the program, the ATP has already contributed €4 billion to earnings. Furthermore, measures taken in the context of Audi.Zukunft are to free up approximately €6 billion for future investments by 2029.

With our Consistently Audi strategy, we are accelerating our roadmap towards electrification. Our investment planning takes this into account. At around €12 billion, we will spend more than ever before on electric mobility by 2024.

—Alexander Seitz, Board of Management Member for Finance, China and Legal Affairs at Audi AG

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By 2025, the Audi Group intends to have more than 30 electrified models in its product range, 20 of which will be fully electric. Audi intends to achieve about 40% of its worldwide unit sales with all-electric and hybridized automobiles by then.

In order to achieve the rapid scaling of electric mobility, Audi is working with Porsche to develop the premium electrification architecture (PPE) for large electric cars; the Modular E Drive System (MEB) is being developed together with Volkswagen. The cross-brand architectures will enable high Group synergies to be utilized in the future.

In order to finance the high investment required to realign the business model, the company launched the Audi Transformation Plan (ATP). This earnings-improvement program is to free up a total of €15 billion for future investments by 2022. The ATP has already contributed more than €4 billion to operating profit since it was launched.

With the ATP, we have significantly improved our spending discipline and our focus on investment. The course has been set for Audi to return to an operating return on sales within the strategic target corridor of 9 to 11 percent in the medium term.

—Alexander Seitz

Measures have already been identified for 80% of the program.

Audi.Zukunft, a fundamental agreement reached on 26 November between the company’s management and the employee representatives, will also make a crucial contribution towards ensuring Audi’s long-term competitiveness. The agreement includes the market-oriented optimization of strategic production capacities at the two German plants and socially responsible workforce adjustments.

The agreement strengthens new job profiles in apprenticeships and further training and extends the employment guarantee until the end of 2029. At the same time, the Works Council and the company’s management have agreed to cut up to 9,500 jobs until 2025.

The reductions will take place along the demographic curve—in particular through employee turnover and a new, attractive early-retirement program. An equivalent percentage staff reduction will take place in management.

Nonetheless, Audi will continue to recruit in the coming years. The company plans to create up to 2,000 new expert positions in areas such as electric mobility and digitalization. Those appointments will be made on the principle of internal before external candidates.

The measures agreed upon within the framework of Audi.Zukunft are expected to have a cumulative positive impact on earnings of approximately €6 billion by 2029, which is to be available for investments in the future.

Audi wheeling out all-road shooting brake plug-in hybrid concept at Detroit show; the first e-tron quattro

Shooting brake concept. Click to enlarge.

Audi will unveil an all-road shooting brake plug-in hybrid concept at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The two-door car is a crossover; its hybrid drive demonstrates a new form of quattro drive—the e-tron quattro.

The Audi allroad shooting brake represents the first time that Audi has combined the all-road and e-tron form languages. The compact crossover plug-in hybrid has a low fuel consumption figure of 1.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (123.8 mpg_US), equivalent to 45 g CO₂ per km (72.42 g/mile) based on the relevant ECE standard. Its total driving range is up to 820 km (510 miles).

The show car combines sex appeal, highly efficient e-tron-quattro technology that produces 300 kW of power yet only consumes 1.9 l/100 km (123.8 US mpg) of fuel and cutting-edge electronic applications. We are offering very concrete glimpses of the near future in this show car.

—Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Audi AG, Technical Development

The plug-in hybrid drive also delivers impressive performance with 300 kW (408 hp) of system power and a system torque of 650 N·m (479 lb-ft). The show car, which weighs around 1,600 kg (3527 lb) without the driver, accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds, with a top speed of 250 km/h (155.34 mph).

The 2.0 TFSI engine in the Audi allroad shooting brake outputs 215 kW (292 hp) of power and generates 380 N·m (280 lb-ft) of torque. The transverse mounted two-liter four-cylinder with a large turbocharger is a high-end engine. In part-load operation, indirect injection supplements direct gasoline injection to improve fuel economy; the exhaust manifold that is integrated in the cylinder head enables high-performance thermal management.

The 2.0 TFSI operates together with a disc-shaped electric motor via a decoupling clutch; the electric motor outputs 40 kW of power and 270 N·m (199.14) of torque. It is integrated in the six-speed e-S tronic. The dual clutch transmission, which shifts at lightning speed, sends torque to the front wheels.

A second electric motor, which is separate from this drive unit, is mounted to the rear axle. It supplies propulsive power at low and moderate vehicle speeds with its maximum power of 85 kW and 270 N·m (199 lb-ft) of torque. It can also be operated in tandem with the motor and engine at the front axle if the hybrid management system decides that all-wheel drive makes sense. In such situations, e.g. on a slippery road or in light off-road conditions, this essentially makes the Audi allroad shooting brake an e-tron quattro.

Located just forward of the rear axle is a lithium-ion battery that consists of eight modules. It contributes towards a balanced distribution of weight, and it hardly affects cargo capacity at all. The liquid-cooled battery has an energy capacity of 8.8 kWh, which is enough for 50 km (31 miles) of all-electric driving. An Audi wall box is used for stationary charging; it can operate with different voltages and plug connector types, and it regulates the energy transfer conveniently and intelligently.

Drive select management offers three driving modes. There is the EV mode, which can be selected by a button on the multifunction steering wheel; it prioritizes all-electric driving. Here, the front drive unit is inactive, and the electric motor at the rear axle can rapidly accelerate the two-door car to a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph).

In Hybrid mode, the drive sources work together in various ways as necessary. In many situations, the electric motor in front acts as a generator—driven by the engine, it charges the battery, and this extends the car’s effective electric driving range.

In Sport mode, which the driver can select via the Audi drive select sysdi, tem, the car’s full system power is available. When a high level of power is demanded by the driver, the electric motor at the rear axle works together with the 2.0 TFSI in a boost mode, in which both drive units output propulsive power.

Depending on the driving situation, releasing the accelerator pedal can cause all drive units to be decoupled, or it can result in energy recovery by regenerative braking. In the first case, the show car coasts with zero emissions since the combustion engine is shut off; in the latter case, braking energy is fed back into the high-voltage battery.

The driver can use the “Hold” and “Charge” functions in the MMI user interface to specifically influence the battery's charge state, e.g. to increase storage of electric energy so that it can be used over the final kilometers to the destination.

Chassis. An electro-mechanical steering system is at work in the chassis of the Audi allroad shooting brake; it works together with a MacPherson front suspension and a four-link rear suspension. For off-roading, the crossover features high ground clearance, compact wheelbase, short overhangs and electric quattro drive. It has a taut and sporty stance on the road, and the Audi drive select vehicle dynamics system offers various modes to the driver. Size 255/40 tires are mounted to its 19-inch wheels.

Source: Green Car Congress

Audi’s Plans for 2011 Include 1,200 New Jobs and the Launch of the Biggest Investment Program in Company History

Audi’s plans for 2011 include 1,200 new jobs and the launch of the biggest investment program in company history

• Company primarily seeking specialists in career fields of the future
• Board Member for Human Resources Thomas Sigi: “Innovation requires people”
• Audi plans to invest about € 11.6 billion in fixed assets by 2015

Audi is investing heavily in its future and intends to hire about 1,200 skilled employees in 2011. The company plans to invest around € 11.6 billion between 2011 and 2015, primarily in new products and technologies, as well as in upgrading its sites. More than € 5 billion is earmarked for the German sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

“Innovation requires people,” said Thomas Sigi, Member of the AUDI AG Board of Management for Human Resources. “For this reason, we want to hire around 1,200 experts in 2011 who will primarily bolster our electromobility and lightweight construction fields of competence, as well as the implementation of our growth strategy.” During 2010 Audi recruited about 500 experts and 780 trainees who began their vocational training in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

From 2011 to 2015 the company plans to invest about € 11.6 billion in fixed assets, making this the biggest investment program in the company’s history. “With this investment, we are laying the foundation for sustained, profitable growth, and supporting our claim to leadership in the premium car segment,” said Axel Strotbek, Board Member for Finance and Organization of AUDI AG.

About 80 percent of all investment – more than € 9.5 billion – will go to developing new products and to technologies of the future such as electric and hybrid drive systems. One example is the Audi R8 e-tron, the first electric sports car from Audi, which the company wants to begin selling in late 2012.

The brand with the logo of the four rings will introduce numerous new models in 2011, including the new Audi A6 and the Audi Q5 Hybrid, the first full hybrid from the carmaker. In launching the new Audi Q3, which is manufactured in Martorell, Spain, Audi is occupying the midsize premium SUV segment for the first time.

The foundation for the future is also being laid at the company’s German sites: more than € 5 billion is to be invested in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm between 2011 and 2015. “In addition to our foreign sites, the German sites will also profit greatly from the Audi brand’s good worldwide prospects for growth, especially in China,” Strotbek said.

Source: Audi Press Release