Audi 2006 Annual Report Download - page 160

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Capital investments
Capital investments scheduled for the medium term are intended predominantly for cus-
tomer-oriented additions to the model and engine range, the essential expansion of devel-
opment and production structures, improving the productivity and quality of process chains,
and strengthening customer loyalty. All investment measures share the same objective of
lastingly strengthening the market position of the Audi Group through a forward-looking
model and brand strategy.
The investment volume for property, plant and equipment and for financial assets envis-
aged for the period from 2007 to 2011, together with development expenditure recognised
as an intangible asset, amounts to just under EUR 13 billion for the Audi Group. The 2007
financial year accounts for around one fifth of this sum. The cash flow from operating activi-
ties will cover investment spending in full for the entire planning period.
Capital investments principally concern direct production activities and will for the most
part be earmarked for the production areas at Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm and Győr. Capital
investments at suppliers represent a further focal area.
Anticipated development in the workforce
The workforce will remain largely unchanged in 2007 compared with the past financial year.
Opportunities for future development
The main determining factors behind the future development of the Audi Group again con-
sist above all in forward-looking strategies and measures designed to assure the steady
qualitative and quantitative growth of the company in the long term.
Systematically pushing forward with the model initiative that is already under way re-
mains of key importance. The large number of new models launched in the past financial
year will be joined by the Audi TT Roadster, the Audi A5 and the new Audi R8 super sports
car in the first half of 2007. Further new models will fit seamlessly into the ongoing process
of extending and rejuvenating the range in the second half of the year and also in subse-
quent years.
The objective of serving existing markets even more successfully remains valid for 2007.
Following the successful establishment of the group’s own subsidiaries in the important
sales regions of the Middle East and South Korea in 2005, the spotlight will shift to the re-
structuring of the sales organisation in North America. The domestic sales organisation also
merits particular attention.
The Audi Group expects the aforementioned measures to provide lasting prospects of
growth that will determine the development of the company’s volume figures as well as its
financial performance data over the coming years.
Over and above the strategy-related determining factors listed above, external factors may
provide additional opportunities. Falls in the price of raw materials and advantageous ex-
change rate movements could, for instance, have a positive impact on financial perform-
ance.