AUTONEWS

AUDI DEVELOP CORPORATE STRATEGY AND PLAN TO SELL 800 THOUSAND ELECTRIC CARS
Audi aims to sell approximately 800,000 fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the year 2025. At the Audi AG Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, the Board presented the updated strategy 'Audi.Vorsprung.2025'. To allow a third of customers to decide in favor of an electric car by the middle of the next decade, there must be a sustainable option in each model line up until then - most of them should be fully electric, with a smaller proportion as hybrid plug-in .With the aim of releasing resources for the billion-euro investment package, Audi adopted its Action and Transformation Plan at the end of last year. The objectives are to explore new revenue streams, improve cost structures and accelerate corporate transformation in relation to new business models, which will greatly increase the scope of investment. By 2025, approximately 40 billion euros should flow to strategic areas such as e-mobility, autonomous direction and digitization. This also applies to the scanning of production."Our ambition has always been and will continue to be the Vorsprung durch Technik", says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Audi AG. "Our goal is to revolutionize mobility. Also in electric mobility, we want to become the number 1 among Premium manufacturers - with total suitability for daily use, without compromise, superior quality and pleasure of driving to the customer. With our technological excellence, we are using our Vorsprung and bringing electrical mobility to the next level. "The production version of the Audi e-tron prototype is the first result of the Roadmap E initiative, with which the premium brand will electrify its complete portfolio by 2025. This also includes investment in the German factories in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, as well as a clear commitment work by the end of 2025.Product launches include more than 20 electrified models in rapid succession by 2025. In 2019, the e-tron Sportback will be the second all-electric car to be launched, followed by the Audi Sport e-tron GT in 2020. The brand will also offer an electric model in the segment of Premium compact in 2020.
For its E-Roadmap project, the company is making systematic use of two large Volkswagen Group synergy levers in the area of ​​development. In addition to the Modular Power Tool Kit developed by Volkswagen for the compact segment, Audi and Porsche are working together to implement the premium architecture electrification for medium and large size electric cars. These cooperation projects substantially reduce development costs. For the customer, this means a readily available option from a broad portfolio for emission-free driving.With electric mobility, Audi also adopts a holistic and resource-conserving approach: in Brussels, e-tron is the first premium car with high-volume production with a neutral CO2 certification. Following the example of Brussels, Audi will make its plants worldwide CO2-neutral by 2030.In launching e-tron on the market, European customers will benefit from a high-performance charging infrastructure. Audi is contributing significantly to the development of this infrastructure through the joint venture with Ionity. The production version of the e-tron will be the first car that can be loaded into fast charging stations with up to 150 kilowatts. This will make the electric SUV ready for the next long-haul ride in just under 30 minutes. Its lithium-ion battery offers a range of over 400 kilometers.
For the first time, the production version of the e-tron prototype offers Audi customers the ability to purchase functions such as driver assistance systems or infotainment features also after the vehicle is purchased. More content and digital services will be gradually made available to passengers. Audi aims to generate operating profit of 1 billion euros with these new business models by 2025."Just in time for the 50th anniversary of Vorsprung durch Technik, we will also be presenting our first stand-alone electric car based on our Audi Aicon concept in 2021. A lounge-style urban transport mode - initially in a pilot fleet and as a production car in series for automated driving in the middle of the next decade, "says Peter Mertens, a member of Audi AG's Technical Development Board."Throughout the world, we are accelerating the implementation of new profitable business models in the areas that will be essential to our industry in the future," explains Alexander Seitz, a member of the Board of Finance of Audi AG. "Since January, we have implemented the first measures of the Action and Transformation Plan, with a low value of three digits. The measures identified will have a sustainable effect and a long-term impact on revenues and costs. So we will have the most benefits from 2020, when our plan develops, reaching a total of 10 billion euros by 2022. Audi will be able to ensure its strong profitability, despite the high levels of investment. "