Audi will embrace the future with two advanced new Q SUVs and three e-tron battery electric vehicles while also replacing five ‘core’ models

• New model generations in five core series, expansion of SUV family, extensive electrification
• Technology for driverless city cars ready for an initial small series by 2021

Audi is facing up to the challenges of the present day but also confidently embracing the future with ambitious plans. Following a year that was impacted by the diesel crisis, the company intends to continue pushing forward with its strategic transformation, the details of which have just been outlined to shareholders by the Board of Management at its Annual General Meeting in Neckarsulm, Germany.

“We are rejuvenating our model portfolio enormously and will renew five existing core model series by mid-2018,” stated Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. “In addition, we will expand our successful Q family by 2019 with two new concepts – the Audi Q8 and the Audi Q4 – and we will launch our battery-electric e-tron models.” Audi plans to launch three new electric models by 2020, after which the brand will gradually electrify models in each of its core series.

The focus this year is on top-end models with the new generations of the Audi A8 and Audi A7. The premium manufacturer will unveil the A8 at the first Audi Summit to be held in Barcelona on July 11. With this new event concept, the Ingolstadt-based company will create an exclusive presentation format all around the Four Rings. “There, we will show the world everything that defines Vorsprung durch Technik and our brand,” explained Stadler.

Over 30% fully or partially electric sales by 2025

Audi is systematically utilising Group synergies in order to implement topics of the future even faster and more efficiently. In April, the brand agreed on new development cooperation with Porsche for future vehicle architectures. Part of the cooperation is the development of shared premium architecture for electrification – an effective lever to enhance the competitiveness of electric cars. By 2025, Audi intends to achieve a proportion of one third fully or partially electric models in its unit sales.

In addition to the traditional car business, the premium brand will expand its range of digital services in the future. With myAudi, the company aims to create a consistent entry into the brand’s digital world and establish a platform for a wide range of online services, which will be open also for third-party providers to offer services. Audi is also expanding its mobility services for urban areas and intends to offer them in more than 15 markets worldwide by the end of this decade.

With a subsidiary founded in March 2017, Audi will take over the leading role within the Volkswagen Group in the development of autonomous driving. Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH is working on the technology for driverless vehicles in urban environments, which will be applicable in models of various brands. The technology is to be ready for application in a first small series of cars early in the next decade.

“We are financing our transformation out of our own resources,” said Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Finance, IT and Integrity. “Our business operations are robust also in the currently challenging situation. On the side of expenditure and investment, our ‘Speed up!’ program is helping us to achieve a high level of efficiency and thus a maximum focus on the topics of the future.”

In the first quarter of 2017, the Audi Group achieved an operating profit of more than €1.2 billion. With an operating return on sales of 8.7 percent, the company clearly met its profitability target. The net cash flow increased to more than €1.5 billion.

In full-year 2017, the company intends to slightly increase deliveries of Audi-brand cars compared with the number of 1,867,738 automobiles delivered in 2016. Revenue should also slightly surpass the prior-year level of €59.3 billion. In terms of operating return on sales, following the 5.1 percent of last year, Audi now plans to achieve its strategic target corridor of 8 to 10 percent once again. In 2016, operating profit was reduced by €1.8 billion and operating return on sales by 3.1 percentage points due to special items in connection with the diesel crisis and Takata airbags.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

Android and associated apps debut on the Audi SUV showcar at Google I/O

• New, open system architecture for in-car infotainment
• Fully integrated HMI solution featuring Android presented on the Q8 sport concept technology platform
• New streaming services include Spotify, Google Play Music and Google Assistant
• Vast Android community knowledge allows accelerated development of future in-car apps

Audi is presenting its concept of a next generation infotainment system with fully integrated Android platform at the renowned Google I/O developer conference, starting today, 17 May. This world premiere opens up new perspectives, which will allow the development of connectivity services to be greatly accelerated.

With 7,000 attendees on site, and millions worldwide via the internet, the three-day Google I/O gathering at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, is considered as the largest and most important developer conference in the software industry worldwide. One of the exhibits features Android as a seamlessly integrated solution for in-car infotainment applications, which is being developed by the Android Open Source Community and its millions of members.

The Audi Q8 sport concept technology platform, which Audi is presenting at Google I/O, already has Android on board. The new functions, including the streaming service Spotify, Google Play Music and Google Assistant all run on the large MMI touch display in the centre of the dashboard. The information is also visible in the Audi virtual cockpit in the driver’s direct field of view.

This marks the first time the new services have been fully integrated into Audi’s brand specific infotainment system. While the navigation map continues to use the Audi-typical HERE database, the driver can also choose to navigate with Google Maps. A message centre for incoming messages and calls round out the new services in the show car.

The seamless integration of Android harbours tremendous potential. Android is the world's most popular mobile platform with more than 1.4 billion active users worldwide. The open Android community’s immense breadth of expertise and creativity can speed up the development of new applications. New apps can quickly find their way into the cars as additional connected services, for example, if they fulfill the requirements of Google and Audi. The foundation for this is the Android platform. Other customer advantages alongside shorter update cycles include a significantly greater diversity of services as well as broad international availability.

When people are able to pursue any activity they want in the car of the future, the integrated Android system will enable them to use the entire world of Smartphone apps in the car.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

Model range gains far-reaching equipment and option pack advantages plus new range-topping Black Edition specification for A4

• New A4 Saloon and Avant Black Edition now available to order priced from £32,350 OTR to £44,350 OTR
• Latest A4 variants arrive as existing A4 range also receives equipment enhancements adding up to £550 worth of customer value
• Black Edition specification comprises privacy glass, black exterior styling pack, flat-bottomed steering wheel, piano black inlays and 19-inch alloy wheels
• Can be ordered with 1.4 TFSI 150PS, 2.0 TDI and 2.0 TFSI 190PS, 2.0 TFSI 252PS and both 218PS and 272PS V6 TDI engines
• Pricing starts from £32,350 OTR and rises to £44,350 OTR
• Cruise control and rear parking sensors also fitted as standard without exception to all Audi models as part of a comprehensive Model Year offering

Exclusive styling, extensive equipment and amplified road presence have long been hallmarks of the Audi Black Edition specification, and now it is back by popular demand to lend an even more purposeful air to the new A4 Saloon and Avant. Black Edition versions of both variants can be ordered now, and are the headliners for a broader range of equipment additions benefiting numerous UK Audi models and forming part of the brand’s 2018 Model Year update programme.

The immensely popular Black Edition specification, which was the choice of more than 50 per cent of customers ordering the previous A4 model, is available in combination with the full A4 engine range, from the entry-level 1.4 TFSI with 150PS right up to the most powerful 272PS V6 TDI quattro.

It guarantees stand-out appeal through 19-inch five-arm rotor alloy wheels in a matt titanium finish (or the no-cost option of 18-inch 10 Y-spoke gloss black alloys), complemented by a titanium black styling pack which extends to the mirror housings, singleframe grille and window surrounds, side skirts, rear spoiler (fitted to the Saloon) and air intakes. Black roof rails also complement these accents in Avant models, and in both body styles privacy glass is added for the rear windows. Another Black Edition benefit that is less immediately obvious is the inclusion of acoustic front side window glass to further refine the already remarkably hushed A4 cabin environment.

Up to £550 of added value for A4

Inside, the Black Edition versions gain a flat-bottomed multi-function steering wheel and piano black inlays, as well as a number of detail enhancements that benefit the range from SE specification upwards and add up to £550 worth of customer value compared with specifying the items individually. All versions now feature Audi connect Safety & Service, which takes advantage of the A4’s advanced internet-enabled onboard network to offer emergency call, online roadside assistance and Audi service request functions, all at the touch of a roof panel-mounted button. Sport models gain an upgraded multi-function steering wheel, a seven-inch full-colour Driver’s Information System replacing the original five-inch monochrome version, front seat heating and Twin Leather upholstery, while S line models swap their cloth and leather combination upholstery for a leather and Alcantara mix and also add seat heating.

Elsewhere in the Audi range, cruise control and rear parking sensors become part of the standard specification for every model, from the entry level A1 upwards, that isn’t already factory fitted with these items.

At the same time, thorough analysis of the engine and trim level hierarchies has resulted in rationalised model choice lists and a simpler and more consistent portfolio of optional equipment packages across the board.

The most significant changes to the cost effective packaged equipment bundles can be seen in the popular Technology and Comfort and Sound packs. The Technology Pack has been standardised for all Audi models in an enhanced form that includes the fully digital Audi virtual cockpit and Audi Phone Box with wireless charging*, MMI navigation plus with MMI Touch and the suite of Audi connect infotainment services.

A new format Comfort and Sound Pack also replaces the various equivalents previously offered across the range, and depending on model features either front parking sensors or a reversing camera, hill hold assist, a BOSE or Bang & Olufsen sound system and either heated front seats or the advanced key keyless access system.

To add a final flourish to the 2018 Model Year changes, the new ‘Audi Beam’ feature also becomes standard equipment for S models from the S3 upwards and for all RS models. Audi Beam projects the four rings via LEDs onto the ground whenever the car is parked and the front doors are opened. On RS models, the projection changes to the Audi Sport logo.

All of these changes and further Model Year 2018 upgrades are documented in the latest versions of the price lists and on the Audi configurator.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

quattro is a permanent all-wheel drive system. If the wheels on one axle of the vehicle lose grip on the road and threaten to spin, wheel-selective torque control distributes the drive force through the transfer case and hydraulic multi-plate clutch to the axle or individual wheel with the better grip.

With quattro you will experience directional stability, dynamism and agility as never before, while counteracting over- and understeer without any problems. The benefits are clear: better traction and thus improved acceleration as well as greater safety thanks to more balanced cornering forces.

Article source: www.audi.com