„Our plan was to have nine days of testing so that each driver/co-driver pairing could work with the test vehicle for three days,“ says Arnau Niubó Bosch, Project Leader Track Operations. “There were two main objectives: to develop the second evolution for the Dakar Rally and to familiarize the driver teams with the new developments. The weight reduction creates new opportunities for suspension set-up, which we want to exploit. We are moving in a good direction. The electric drive with all its systems is also working more smoothly than at the test a year ago.”

In Morocco, Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations Audi Sport, encountered unusually tough conditions with his squad. “At almost 40 degrees Celsius, the temperatures are extreme and push the car, but also the crews, to their limits,” he reports. “Likewise, the test tracks are very brittle this year, which visibly puts an enormous strain on the technology. But there’s nothing that will stop the car, just minor damage that we need to repair.”

“One Young World is much more than the usual networking between like-minded business leaders and companies. It is a meeting place for young activists, future leaders, and current decision-makers from business, politics, and society. If we really want to make a difference for our future, we need to inspire others to join us on this path,” says Xavier Ros, who has been Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources and Organization at Audi since May 2022, in summary of Audi’s commitment to One Young World. Ros will use his keynote speech at the beginning of the conference – which will also be his first public appearance as Audi’s new Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources and Organization – to support sustainable innovation and business models in direct dialogue with young talents.

This year’s conference will focus on conflict prevention, gender equality, ocean ecosystems, ethical leadership, and health. More than 2,000 participants from over 190 countries are expected to attend, among them high-ranking guests from the world of politics and science, such as former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Audi delegation consists of ten selected Audi employees from all production sites and four Bentley employees, as well as 15 external scholarship holders whose projects are supported by the Audi Environmental Foundation. All 29 representatives are between 21 and 35 years old and have launched promising projects aimed at sustainability, environmental protection, and social justice. This deliberate mix of employees and young founders who are independent of Audi is Audi’s way of promoting the exchange of ideas within and outside the company.

Focus on a sustainable future

One delegation member is Philipp Eder. The sustainability strategist from Audi Procurement is working on implementing material cycles, his efforts already resulting in pilot projects with automotive glass and mixed plastic waste. “At Audi Procurement, our goal is to use secondary materials wherever it is technically possible and makes ecological and economic sense,” says Eder, who works for Audi in Ingolstadt. “For me personally, it is a great pleasure to be part of Audi’s sustainability story. I am able to put my personal passion for sustainability into practice and make our supply chain more sustainable and circular every day.” Next, Eder wants to work with partner companies from the Audi supplier network to process irreparable car windows so that they can be used as secondary material in new car glass.

Franziska Trautmann is participating in the conference as an Audi Environmental Foundation scholarship holder. The American commissioned the first glass recycling plant in the state of Louisiana. There, Trautmann and her team from “Glass Half Full” now process glass into sand, which is then filled into the sandbags that are essential for survival in flood-stricken Louisiana. “My vision is to roll out Glass Half Full throughout Louisiana and the United States. There are so many large cities without glass recycling that also have problems with coastal erosion and where sand can be an advantage,” says Trautmann. In total, “Glass Half Full” has already collected and recycled more than one million kilograms of used glass. “I look forward to networking with other young executives from all over the world and learning from them about their organizations and their expertise,” says Trautmann about her anticipation of the event.

Part of Audi’s “Mission:Zero” strategy

On the conference stage, Rüdiger Recknagel, Chief Environmental Officer at AUDI AG and Managing Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation, and Peter Bosch, Member of the Board for Manufacturing at Bentley Motors Ltd., will also discuss the efforts of the brand with the four rings to reduce its ecological footprint. “Audi is bundling all environmental protection activities in production and logistics in the Mission:Zero environmental program,” explains Recknagel. “Mission:Zero focuses on four areas of activity: decarbonization in production and logistics, water use, resource efficiency, and biodiversity. Our ambitious goal is to achieve net carbon-neutral production by 2025 and to halve water consumption at all plants by 2035.” About Audi subsidiary Bentley, Peter Bosch says: “Our “Beyond100” strategy outlines our road to sustainability. It builds on the carbon-neutral status of our factory since 2018 and continuing to off-set less. Our intention is to become carbon neutral, end-to-end, and 100% electric, from 2030.”

First held in 2009, over the years the One Young World Summit has become a permanent annual fixture for decision-makers and future leaders around the world. Audi has attended every year since 2016.

The Greentech Festival in New York is the prime setting for Audi as it allows us to exchange ideas with people that are working to find and implement solutions to reach ambitious climate goals,” said Tara Rush, chief marketing officer, Audi of America. “For real change to be made, innovative solutions need to be discussed, and I’m proud that Audi is a founding partner of a forum that gives a platform for these conversations.”

Audi will host a fireside chat on the main stage, along with a bootcamp session facilitated by Spencer Reeder, Audi’s director of Government Affairs and Sustainability, that conference participants can sign up to join. The all-new Audi Q4 e-tron will be on display at the brand’s exhibition space where Audi will also highlight its recent sustainability initiatives and efforts including:

Audi Environmental Foundation: Awards two grants to environmentally-focused organizations

The Audi Environmental Foundation recently awarded grants to two separate environmentally-focused organizations: Save The Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Save The Bay, employs novel techniques and enlists community volunteers to restore tidal marsh habitat, including levee regrading, revegetation, and their innovative monitoring program.

The grant will support their work protecting and restoring the San Francisco Bay for the benefit of both people and wildlife.

Second phase of the development program

“We’ve managed a good debut at the Dakar with the Audi RS Q e-tron and even our first stage victories in a motorsport discipline that is new to us,” says Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “The entire team is working excellently together and pulling in the same direction. As is usual at such an early stage, the drivers, co-drivers and technicians quickly agreed on the next development targets. We have summarized the result in a new evolution package – the RS Q e-tron E2.” This marks the beginning of the second phase of the development program. In October, Team Audi Sport will prepare for the 2023 Dakar Rally with the new prototype in Morocco.