Starting in 2026, Audi will only launch new models with electric drive systems on the global market. The company will gradually phase out production of its internal combustion engines between now and 2033. In doing so, the premium manufacturer is clearly looking to electromobility and accelerating its own transformation. The main goal: to combine individual mobility and sustainability for its customers – and to increase its profitability as a company at the same time.

Synergies accelerate transition to electromobility

The Audi Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron play a central role in the electrification strategy. In terms of price, they offer Audi customers an attractive point of entry into electric premium mobility. The Volkswagen Group’s platform strategy makes this possible: The Audi Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron are being produced in the multi-brand factory in Zwickau, where the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 and, more recently, the Cupra Born are also manufactured. All these models are based on the MEB, but they score points with their brand-specific strengths.

“In the future, we will rely even more intensively on synergies within the Volkwagen Group,” says Peter Kössler, Audi AG Board Member for Production and Logistics. “This close collaboration makes the transition to emissions-free premium mobility affordable for our customers and economically presentable for us. At the same time, we make sure that all our vehicles unmistakably carry the Audi DNA within them and leave the assembly line in almost proverbially premium quality.”

The next important electric model from the company with four rings, the Audi Q6 e-tron, is also based on a new group platform: the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) developed jointly by Audi and Porsche.

The Zwickau VW factory: a pioneer in the emergence into the electric age

At Volkswagen Saxony in Zwickau, approximately 8,500 employees are producing the group’s five current models – all carbon-neutrally. Dr. Stefan Loth, Chairman of the Board, says, “For us, it is a special joy as well as a challenge that we have transformed from an exclusively Volkwagen factory to a multi-brand location that will soon produce six electric car models. That makes significant demands of our employees, who are responding with tremendous engagement and skill.” Many novel and innovative technologies are being used in the assembly process. For instance, the head-up display is installed directly in the assembly line. Intelligent software assesses the test image projected on the windshield and autonomously makes fine adjustments.

The Q4 e-tron: unmistakably a real Audi

Using shared platforms and technical modules has been a proven strategy in the Volkswagen Group for decades. “Teamwork across brands starts when a new platform is conceived,” says Fermin Soneira Santos, Head of Product Line for Electric Models from the A to C Segment. “It’s important to establish the right balance between distinctive brand character and maximum synergy.” For example, the Q4 e-tron is unmistakably a real Audi. This is not only apparent in the progressive design, but also in the standard Audi display and operation concept with a combination of virtual cockpit and extra large MMI, the augmented reality head-up display, which brings the interface between the virtual and real worlds together for the first time in the compact class, and in Audi’s almost proverbial claim to quality and materials in the interior.Both models successfully started in all European markets in 2021; for US customers, the compact SUVs have been available since the end of September.

Audi employees support and learn from Zwickau colleagues

The benefits of cross-brand collaboration are evident not only in the technical platforms, but also among the employees: at the moment, approximately 350 Audi employees are engaged in manufacturing in Zwickau – primarily junior staff members who have just completed their vocational training. After their one-year assignment in Zwickau, they will bring their experience in the emerging field of electromobility back to their original locations – for instance with the start of the Q6 e-tron in the Ingolstadt factory, which will be on the market starting in 2023.

Zwickau and Audi are united in a long tradition

The roots of the company with the four rings are in Saxony: when he needed to expand his operation, company founder August Horch went to Zwickau, where he registered the company “A. Horch Motorenwagenwerke AG” in 1904.

That laid the foundation for car manufacturing in Saxony. After disagreements with the board of directors, Horch left his company and founded the “August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH” in 1909, which was renamed the “Audi-Automobilwerke m.b.H.” in 1910.

Then, in 1932, the company reached another milestone in its history: the four companies Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer consolidated to form the Auto Union AG; the trademark became the four rings. Stefan Trauf, Managing Director of Auto Union GmbH, the company that is responsible for Audi tradition today: “Zwickau was, is, and will remain a very special city for Audi. Automotive history was written here – and, then as now, it was striking just how important and productive close collaboration between brands is.” Audi history and the history of the auto industry in Saxony live on in the August Horch Museum in Zwickau (www.horch-museum.de/en/).

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

Audi is tackling one of the greatest challenges in international motorsport, quite deliberately using a unique concept. The Audi RS Q e-tron has an electric powertrain with two motor-generator units (MGUs) from Formula E. While the vehicle is in motion, the high-voltage battery is charged by an energy converter consisting of the efficient TFSI engine from the DTM and another MGU. 

“The prototype of the Audi RS Q e-tron was created in around twelve months,” says Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. The rollout on June 30th, 2021 in Neuburg an der Donau and the start on January 1, 2022 in Ha’il (Saudi Arabia) are separated by merely six months. “That’s a very short time to prepare for such a complex project. I cannot emphasize this often enough: The Audi RS Q-e-tron is the most sophisticated vehicle in terms of technology that Audi Sport has ever deployed in racing.”

Andreas Roos, Project Leader for all factory-backed motorsport activities, can only confirm that: “The Dakar is extremely challenging – even for a conventionally powered vehicle. With our powertrain concept, the challenge is distinctly greater. The chassis and suspension do not entail major differences, but we have a lot more components in the car that have to be not only high-performing, lightweight and functioning reliably under the extreme conditions of the Dakar. They also have to be attuned to each other perfectly and work together smoothly.” 

A conventionally powered Dakar vehicle features two major components: the internal combustion engine and the transmission. “In our Audi RS Q e-tron, we have an electric motor at the front axle, an electric motor at the rear axle, the high-voltage battery and the energy converter, consisting of another MGU and the TFSI engine from the DTM,” says Roos. “And each of these components, for instance, requires a dedicated cooling system. That means we have not only one cooling system in the car but as many as six, including the intercooler and air conditioning system for the driver and co-driver.” 

Packaging is another major issue with such a complex vehicle. “We had to make use of every centimeter to accommodate all the components in the car,” says Roos. That comes at the cost of ease of service. “For instance, changing the front-axle differential still takes a lot of time at the moment. That must be achievable faster at the Dakar and is one of the issues we’re currently working on under massive time pressure.” 

“With our customer teams WRT and Saintéloc Racing, we have a strong package for this year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour. They are ready to give it everything in order to clinch a good result,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “The teams will be competing with a special livery on the cars that features a ‘stars and stripes’ design as a tribute to the USA.”

At the season opener of the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge, the Spa 24 Hours, Audi Sport Team WRT finished runner-up with Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts. Since then, Audi has been leading the manufacturers standings with a 15-point advantage. In America, the teams and drivers have the chance to further extend their brand’s lead at the second of three rounds in the only worldwide GT3 racing series. Vanthoor and Weerts, who recently became the overall champions of the GT World Challenge Europe, will again be competing with Audi Sport Team WRT in Indianapolis. They will share the cockpit with Christopher Mies. The sister car will be driven by Mattia Drudi, Robin Frijns and Nico Müller. Team WRT is no stranger to the race in Indianapolis. The team finished fourth in last year’s round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge at the venue.

Whether mechatronics technicians, IT specialists, or industrial business management assistants – Audi has been helping young people successfully launch their careers at its Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites for more than 70 years. This year, AUDI AG is once again welcoming numerous new members into the Audi family. At the Ingolstadt site, for example, 426 vocational trainees and 24 cooperative education students are starting their careers; in Neckarsulm, 268 vocational trainees and 18 cooperative education students are taking their first steps into the working world.

“Around 700 young people will be starting a new, exciting chapter in their lives in the coming days. This new beginning is one marked by anticipation and curiosity, but perhaps also a bit of anxiety about what will happen during the next three years. The Works Council and the youth and trainee representatives always have an open ear for the concerns of young Audi employees and are available to offer advice and support,” said Peter Mosch, chair of the General Works Council.

Today’s working world is undergoing a dynamic transformation process, and Audi is continuously aligning its training to the ever-changing requirements. As a result, young people at Audi have the opportunity to take on responsible tasks in future fields such as e-mobility or digitalization. This year, 66 of them are beginning a training program to become an IT specialist. IT specialists specializing in “digital connectivity,” for example, learn to help develop and optimize complex processes at the interface between IT and vehicle production, which will shape automotive manufacturing in the future.

“Our focus on career fields of the future begins during training. In this way, we help young people develop the elementary skills that will be crucial for tomorrow’s work right from the start,” noted Sabine Maaßen, Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources and Organization at AUDI AG. Today, 25 percent of the vocational training programs at Audi are now focused on digitalization. In addition to “IT specialist specializing in digital connectivity,” good examples also include “IT specialist specializing in application development” and “digitalization management specialists.”

Audi is also taking a systematically digital approach to the way in which content is conveyed to trainees. Remote learning was enshrined in the training curriculum in a labor-management agreement that came into force on September 1.For this reason, all new trainees and students will receive laptops or tablets from Audi that will allow them to learn in a flexible manner even when they are not on the factory premises. In this context, the trainees will participate in guided digital teaching units or work on assignments independently via the Moodle learning platform. Depending on the training program, the aspiring Audi employees will be able to spend up to 20 percent of their program learning remotely. In general, however, training will continue to take place on site – both at the Audi Academy training center as well as the relevant job rotation stations throughout the plants.

In addition to vocational training, the premium manufacturer also offers cooperative education programs. In these programs, students apply the theoretical knowledge gained from classroom-based instruction in practical assignments at the company’s sites. Here, too, the brand with the four rings is training specialists early on in key future fields, with bachelor’s degree programs such as Electrical Engineering and Information Technology or master’s degree programs such as Robotics, Cognition, and Intelligence preparing students for the company’s progressive digitalization. This year, 42 young people are starting a cooperative education program at Audi.