The last big test before the 2024 Dakar Rally: Team Audi Sport has put the Audi RS Q e-tron through its final test in the south of France. The three Audi driver crews of Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz carried out the final fine-tuning. Before Audi’s third participation in the Dakar Rally, the engineers’ priority was to further extend the endurance of all the components.

 

The three driver crews covered a total distance of over 900 kilometers during the five-day test hosted at Château de Lastours. “We have thus fulfilled our development tasks and are now concentrating on the remaining logistical work before January,” says Rolf Michl, Head of Audi Motorsport. “We have prepared as well as possible, but the Dakar Rally remains the most ambitious and by far the most difficult task on the calendar. And we approach it with great respect. A big thank you also goes out to the entire team, as well as to our drivers and co-drivers for the work they have done to date for this very demanding challenge.”

Under the leadership of the Technical Director Dr. Leonardo Pascali, the focus for the engineers was the confirmation of quality standards. The innovative Audi RS Q e-tron is characterized by its electric drivetrain with a high-voltage battery and an energy converter. The battery system and other components of the highly efficient and low-emission concept had to pass final endurance tests at the venue between Narbonne and Perpignan on the French Mediterranean coast. “Logistically, this location was ideal for us to travel to and allowed short reaction times if we needed something from Germany,” summed up Pascali. “We have gone over all of the assemblies and systems, both the parts taken over from the previous model and the newly developed ones. It was about meeting the specified quality standards for all areas.” At the same time, the drivers were able to once again confirm the RS Q e-tron’s set-up for the Dakar Rally, which they had developed on different terrain over the course of the season.

“We were able to work through all the necessary points on our checklist,” said Sven Quandt, Team Principal of Q Motorsport. “Our drivers and engineers have put the cars through their paces for the Dakar Rally. Carlos, Mattias and Stéphane are happy. They even tested some of the spare parts in their cars to run in the components. We are going to the Dakar Rally with excitement, but also with peace of mind. Everyone has shown that they are real team players. They approach their tasks purposefully and consistently. This increases our confidence for the Dakar Rally.”

 
Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

The revised exterior design of the new Q8 with new front and rear aprons underscores the strong character of the SUV coupé. The optional S line exterior package caters to customers who desire more sportiness. For the first time, Audi is equipping the Q8 with HD Matrix LED headlights with a laser as an additional high beam. The headlights also feature digital daytime running lights with selectable light signatures. Digital OLED rear lights with four selectable rear light designs complete the expanded light offering. New wheels, colors, decorative inlays, and seats with contrast stitching highlight the car’s top position among the Q models.

 
Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

AMAG has supported the Swiss-Ski Association as an automotive partner for 55 years. Audi has been a guarantee of safe transportation for the athletes since the introduction of the Audi quattro. To celebrate the anniversary, AMAG and Audi Switzerland, together with Swiss-Ski, invited guests to the Audi e-tron energy bar in Grindelwald, where former Federal Councillor Adolf Ogi, together with Helmut Ruhl, CEO AMAG Group, Dieter Jermann, Brand Director Audi Switzerland and Urs Lehmann, President Swiss-Ski, discussed the origins, present and future of this successful partnership. In addition, Moni Islam, Head of Aerodynamics/Aeroacoustics Development at AUDI AG, and skiing legend Didier Cuche gave exciting insights into their electrifying everyday lives.

 

AMAG/Audi and snow sports – two things that simply belong together, and have done so for 55 years already, which is equivalent to a platinum wedding anniversary. And platinum is not only the world's most durable and robust precious metal, it is also thirty times rarer than gold and thus far more valuable. It's hard to say whether this long-standing partnership is worth its weight in gold, but the figures are impressive. By way of example, since the partnership began in 1968, Swiss ski athletes have taken part in a total of 15 Olympic Games, winning 108 medals across all sports, not to mention a haul of 229 World Ski Championships medals. In the Alpine Ski World Cup, the pro skiers have achieved a total of 1,782 podium places, including 645 victories and ten gold medals in the Nations Cup.

Longest sponsorship partnership in Swiss sport

While the athletes' figures are impressive to say the least, so are those of AMAG and Audi Switzerland. With almost 9,250 vehicles, they have been getting the top athletes safely to their destinations since 1968 – in all weathers and under the most adverse conditions. The foundation stone for the sponsorship commitment was laid in 1968 by Adolf Ogi – the then Director of Swiss-Ski. “I noticed that the athletes were never actually arriving at the races and training sessions feeling relaxed.

Not least because they first had to lug six pairs of skis from the station to the hotel and then to the valley station. That's why I asked AMAG if they would provide VW buses to transport the ski team. This simple idea was the start of what is probably the longest sponsorship partnership in Swiss sport. And I would even go so far as to say that it was AMAG cars that drove the national skiing team to success”, the former Federal Councillor declared toTV presenter Rainer Maria Salzgeber at the anniversary celebration marking the 55-year partnership, which was held at the Audi e-tron energy bar in Grindelwald in mid-October.

All-wheel drive for ‘Quattro Nation’ Switzerland

It was the launch of the quattro drive system in particular that led to the brand with the four rings becoming the ideal mobility partner for Swiss-Ski from 1980 onwards. That's because the Audi all-wheel-drive system guarantees safe progress even in the harshest winter road conditions – making it perfect for snow sports enthusiasts. “Audi's quattro all-wheel drive was made for the winter sports athletes, offering perfect grip and reliable drive”, says Adolf Ogi, who is incidentally an enthusiastic Audi driver himself. “Once quattro, always quattro”, says Ogi.

Once Audi, always Audi – that undoubtedly also applies to the partnership with Swiss-Ski. AMAG/Audi is by far Swiss-Ski's most loyal partner. We are particularly proud to have a long-standing and reliable partner in AMAG/Audi. In this day and age, that is by no means a matter of course. Audi is a successful, innovative brand with a positive and sporty aura – making it a perfect fit for Swiss-Ski”, says Urs Lehmann, President of Swiss-Ski.

Common values and goals – now and in the future

But it is not only success that has linked AMAG/Audi and Swiss-Ski for 55 years. Together they stand for power, efficiency and performance, but also for sustainability and Vorsprung durch Technik. Both live progress to achieve what no one has ever done before. “The important thing, as in any partnership, is to keep developing and to keep setting new goals. And to approach these goals proactively and keep moving them forward each time. We did this successfully in the last contract period. We tested new formats, worked with emotional videos, and the digital marketing on social media struck like lightning”, says Dieter Jermann, Brand Director Audi Switzerland.

A development that will continue, as Dieter Jermann announced at the anniversary celebration in Grindelwald: “We have decided to extend the partnership for another four years – up to and including the 2026/2027 season. We are very much looking forward to four more years of sponsorship and hopefully some gold medals. For Audi AG and us, Audi Switzerland, the future focus will be the Alpine Ski World Cup. This strategy fits in perfectly with our brand philosophy – our three P's: Performance, Progressive, Premium.”

Parallels from two worlds

However, good performance is not only important for top athletes; it also plays an important role for the Ingolstadt-based brand, especially in the all-electric Audi e-tron models. Dr Moni Islam is Head of Aerodynamics/Aeroacoustics Development at AUDI AG. His workplace is the wind tunnel, where he focuses on the cd value – the drag coefficient. The cd value is an important parameter for the efficiency and range of electric cars. The Audi e-tron GT quattro1, for example, impresses with a cd value of 0.24, making it the front-runner in the brand's portfolio.

But it is not only vehicles that are optimised in the wind tunnel; Swiss ski athletes also fine-tune their performance at this facility in Ingolstadt. “The Swiss skiing stars often come to our wind tunnel to optimise their aerodynamics. This is always a special highlight for us”, says Dr Islam. But it's not just optimisation at the limit that unites the aerodynamicists at AUDI AG and Swiss-Ski. Dr Islam: “There are many parallels between us and Swiss-Ski. In addition to the attention to detail, we are also united by team spirit and the drive to perform at the highest level.”

This is what the future feels like

The electrification of the Swiss-Ski fleet already began a few years ago. “We very much appreciate Swiss-Ski joining us on our systematic drive towards sustainable, electric, premium mobility. We have been electrifying athletes with our plug-in and fully electric Audi e-tron models since the 2020 season. We already offer electric vehicles that have a range of up to almost 600 km. I am therefore very confident that, together with the athletes, we will electrify the Swiss-Ski vehicle fleet sustainably in the years to come,” says Dieter Jermann.

This Sustainable mindset for a successful future

Former ski racer and Audi Ambassador Didier Cuche has been driving purely electrically for many years. He was one of the first Audi e-tron drivers. A likeable man who hails from the Jura, he gave away some of his electric secrets at the anniversary celebration. “When I switched to the all-electric Audi e-tron in 2019, the timing was perfect", says Cuche. At that time, he had just completely renovated his parents’ farmhouse and converted it into an energy-saving house, including a photovoltaic system on the roof. With this home-produced solar power, Cuche can charge his new Audi Q8 e-tron via a wallbox in the garage at any time, for example. “It's a fantastic feeling to be so clean and self-sufficient on the road. This is what the future feels like”, says Cuche.

Didier Cuche’s example also pleases Helmut Ruhl, CEO of the AMAG Group: “I wish that every free roof in Switzerland had a photovoltaic system installed.” That’s why AMAG is also pushing for the expansion of renewable energies, on the one hand through its subsidiary Helion and other partners, and on the other hand through the construction of PV systems on the roofs of all AMAG buildings.

“The direction of travel is clear – with the rise in electromobility, AMAG not only wants to increasingly meet the additional electricity demand itself with partners, it also aims to position itself as the market leader for sustainable energy and mobility solutions”, says Ruhl.

 
 
Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

A new chapter in drive production at Audi is beginning in the Hungarian city of Győr, as the company commences manufacture of electric motors for the Premium Platform Electric (PPE). The newly developed electric motors will be used for the first time in the Audi Q6 e-tron series. Production of the first fully electric Audi model is scheduled to start at the Ingolstadt headquarters at the end of the year with the PPE-based model. Among other provisions, the company has set up its own battery assembly facility in Ingolstadt in preparation for this step. In Győr, Hungary, Audi Hungaria produces stators and transmission components in a completely new 15,000-square-meter production area, where the axles for the PPE are also assembled. Product testing also takes place in Győr.

 

“Győr is predestined for the production of these highly compact and efficient electric motors for the PPE,” says Audi CEO Gernot Döllner. “The highly qualified team at the site has already built over 400,000 electric drive systems since 2018, which is invaluable experience.” In addition to the electric motors for the PPE that power the Audi Q6 e-tron series, Győr also builds the drive system for the Audi Q8 e-tron. Furthermore, an additional production area is being set up for electric motors that will be used in vehicles based on the MEBeco (modular electric drive toolkit) in the Volkswagen Group.

To produce the electric motors for the PPE, the brand with the four rings has installed three new lines. The production line for stators has 28 work steps, the one for transmission components has 15. One axle alone requires 190 individual steps to assemble. Around 700 employees are involved in production. In terms of series production, the employees in Győr work in three shifts to build up to 2,000 electric motors per day for the PPE. The site supplies both Audi and Porsche. Compared to the previous electric motor assembly facility, the vertical range of production has been increased once again. “The start of production in Győr marks an important milestone in the ramp-up of production of the Audi Q6 e-tron,” says Audi Board Member for Production and Logistics Gerd Walker.

“I know from personal experience how passionately the team at Audi Hungaria works and how systematically it advances the further electrification of the world’s largest engine plant. With its enormous expertise in drive systems and net carbon neutral production, the Győr site is an indispensable part of Audi’s global production network,” adds Walker, who was Managing Director for vehicle production at Audi Hungaria from 2012 to 2016.

Audi Production is using the transition to e-mobility to comprehensively transform its global production network and has a clear vision for the Manufacturing of the future with the 360factory. As part of this holistic, sustainable approach, Audi is modernizing, digitalizing, and transforming its existing plants. Production in Győr has been net carbon neutral since 2020; the site has Europe’s largest roof-mounted photovoltaic system and is Hungary's biggest industrial geothermal energy consumer. To make transporting the electric motors for the PPE from Győr to Ingolstadt net carbon neutral, Audi relies on the transport and logistics company DB Cargo.

Győr looks back on a 30-year success story

The same year that production is launched for the PPE, Audi Hungaria is looking back on a 30-year success story. Since its establishment, the company has grown to become the world’s largest powertrain plant and the first manufacturer in Hungary to produce premium cars. With production of the CUPRA Terramar set to take place there, Győr will further increase synergies in the global production network. Technical Development provides product development for Audi and the Volkswagen Group. In addition to production, the company draws on the extensive know-how of its employees to provide a wide range of services to other Group brands.

In order to expand the exclusive series production of body components for the Progressive brand group with Audi, Lamborghini, and Bentley, Audi Hungaria expanded its toolmaking facility just last year. Complex body components such as rear and front hatches, doors, fenders, roofs, and side panel frames are made here – mainly from aluminum.

Audi Hungaria has invested around twelve billion euros since its foundation. This makes the site one of the largest investors in Hungarian industry. Audi Hungaria currently employs approximately 12,000 people.

 
Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

Team Audi Sport is using October to thoroughly prepare for the 2024 Dakar Rally. The brand will compete in the Morocco Rally with three Audi RS Q e-tron cars for the driver teams Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz in classification for the first time.

 

Step by step, Team Audi Sport is increasing the pace and the demands with a view to the big goal next January: In May, there was a first season test in Saudi Arabia. After further testing in Zaragoza, Spain, the team participated in the Baja Aragon. “October is now marked by the most intensive work since the Dakar Rally,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “Now the whole team can work in competitive mode again. The Morocco Rally is ideal for this in terms of duration and also with regard to the stages because the terrain reflects the versatile requirements of the Dakar Rally well.”

 

A prologue and five rally stages await the participants of the Rally du Maroc from October 13 to 18. The schedule includes 1,449 timed kilometers and a total distance of 2,219 kilometers. Team Audi Sport participated outside the classification last year. Now it will meet tough competition from Toyota, Ford and Prodrive, among others, at the fifth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship as a registered participant. “An excellent field has been announced,” says Rolf Michl. “This is a good assessment of our current status for us. At the same time, it helps the entire team to switch back into competitive mode and verify everything we have already implemented with a view to the 2024 Dakar Rally.” The varied character of the rally with gravel roads, sand and dunes is a representative cross-section that is good for preparing for the Dakar Rally.

In the run-up to the event, Team Audi Sport completed six days of testing in Morocco together with Q Motorsport from October 3 to 8. Each of the three driver pairings was in action for two days. In total, the Audi RS Q e-tron reeled off more than 3,000 kilometers. In the process, the team succeeded in further improving the set-up and testing new tires and components. However, in the course of increasing loads and higher demands on the prototype, the engineers also noted anomalies in one of the cooling systems.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

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