Audi 2006 Annual Report Download - page 134

1 3 2
AUTO ZEITUNG’s “Auto Trophy 2006” poll, Audi actually scooped four of the coveted awards
with its A3, A6, A8 and R8 models. The international press likewise showered awards on
Audi vehicles. In the United Kingdom – one of the Audi brand’s most important export mar-
kets – the Audi brand was even recently voted “Brand of the Year”. The high quality of Audi
vehicles is reflected for instance in the first place achieved in the J.D. Power Asia Pacific
study.
As part of its goal to become the most successful premium manufacturer, the Audi
Group has moreover set itself the target of selling over 1.5 million vehicles by 2015. New
product families and derivatives are consequently being added to the existing model range.
The market launch of the Audi Q7 and the unveiling of the R8 super sports car are the first
manifestations of this product initiative. The company is simultaneously focusing specifi-
cally on new markets: growth markets such as India are being purposely developed early on.
The brand with the four rings is already represented there by imported models. From au-
tumn 2007, locally built vehicles will moreover be available. The company likewise continues
to invest in established growth markets such as China in order to further extend the Audi
brand’s market lead in the premium segment.
The company bases its growth strategy in the first instance on qualitative, sustained
growth. Alongside attaining ambitious volume targets, improved profitability is therefore at
the heart of the strategy. This can be achieved above all by the ongoing analysis and en-
hancement of all corporate processes. One measure that particularly helps to boost long-
term profitability is the modular longitudinal toolkit, which ensures that future vehicle pro-
jects are implemented flexibly and cost-effectively. As well as implementing efficient cost
management measures, the company uses systematic investment management in order to
make optimum use of the available financial resources.
Internal steering system
The return on investment (RoI), which makes it possible to evaluate the return on the capital
employed for different types and sizes of investment project, is used as an instrument of
internal steering within the Audi Group. It thus permits an assessment of the development
in a company’s profitability and is calculated according to the following formula:
Return on investment (RoI) operating result after tax
invested assets
=x100
The average effective tax rate for the group is assumed to be 35 percent for the purpose of
calculating the operating result after tax, based on the varying tax rates for the companies
that make up the group.