Audi 2008 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Photo: Claudia Kempf
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Board were presented with the documentation for the An-
nual and Consolidated Financial Statements, together with
the corresponding audit reports by the auditors, well in ad-
vance of the meetings on February 25, 2009. The auditors
reported in detail to the meetings of the Audit Committee
and Supervisory Board on the key findings of their audit,
and were available to answer questions from the members
of each committee and provide additional information. On
the basis of the audit documents presented to it, its dis-
cussions with the auditors and its own conclusions, the
Audit Committee recommended to the Supervisory Board
at the meeting of the latter on February 25, 2009 that the
Annual and Consolidated Financial Statements be signed
off. The Supervisory Board accepted this recommendation
and signed off the Annual Financial Statements prepared
by the Board of Management as well as the Consolidated
Financial Statements. The Annual Financial Statements are
thus established.
The following change to the composition of the Board of
Management of the Company took place in the past fiscal
year: Effective end of February 22, 2008, Ralph Weyler,
Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and
Sales, left the Board of Management of AUDI AG. The Su-
pervisory Board takes this opportunity to thank Mr. Weyler
for his work on the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
Effective April 1, 2008, Peter Schwarzenbauer succeeded
Ralph Weyler on the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
For the period February 23, 2008 through March 31, 2008,
Rupert Stadler had additionally assumed responsibility for
the Marketing and Sales Division.
The Board of Management expects a further deterioration
in the economic environment worldwide in 2009, with the
entire automotive industry particularly affected. Nor will
the Audi Group be able to resist this trend altogether. The
Board of Management nevertheless believes that the Com-
pany is in a strong strategic position to rise to the major
challenges that lie ahead both actively and successfully.
Wide-ranging, long-term measures already implemented
with a view to optimizing costs and processes will help the
Company to respond swiftly and appropriately to changes
in demand. The Company furthermore has a youthful,
attractive model range, which will continue to stimulate
the market and will be further expanded in 2009.
The Supervisory Board will actively and constructively con-
tinue to support and advise the Board of Management as it
seeks to realize its growth strategy.
Ingolstadt, February 25, 2009
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
agement of AUDI AG were able neither to recommend nor
to advise against acceptance of the mandatory offer. In or-
der to avoid any hint of a conflict of interest or influencing
the debate on the drafting of this opinion in any way, the
Supervisory Board members who supervise Porsche Auto-
mobil Holding SE or belong to the Board of Management of
the holding company each abstained from the vote when
the content of the opinion on the mandatory offer was
being decided.
The economic environment at the end of the fiscal year
rendered it impossible to plan reliably for the long term.
The Board of Management will therefore submit specific
proposals for financial, human resources and investment
planning for the approval of the Supervisory Board at the
start of the 2009 fiscal year.
All financial, human resources and investment decisions
required in the short term in order to maintain the product
initiative and maintain the growth strategy were approved
by the Supervisory Board following detailed discussions on
November 24, 2008. At this meeting, the Supervisory
Board moreover approved the remuneration system for the
Board of Management, including the principal contractual
elements, as well as the content of the annual Declaration
of Compliance pursuant to Section 161 of the German
Stock Corporation Act.
The Audit Committee duly met during the past fiscal year
and considered at length the Annual and Consolidated
Financial Statements for 2007, the Company’s risk man-
agement, the prevailing situation at the end of 2008, and
the process initiated by the Board of Management to es-
tablish a compliance organization. In addition, the com-
mittee considered detailed analyses of potential risks and
burdens from the current economic crisis and the continu-
ing high volatility of international raw materials and cur-
rency markets.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschafts-
prüfungsgesellschaft was elected by the Annual General
Meeting on May 7, 2008 as auditor of the accounts for the
2008 fiscal year. The Supervisory Board issued the audit
assignment to this firm of auditors directly after this elec-
tion. The firm of auditors confirmed the Annual Financial
Statements of AUDI AG and the Consolidated Financial
Statements of the Audi Group, as well as the Management
Reports for AUDI AG and the Audi Group for 2008, and in
each case issued its unqualified certification.
The members of the Audit Committee and Supervisory
“In addition to establishing a new
record for manufacturing output, the
Company delivered over one million
premium vehicles of the Audi brand
for the first time in its history.”
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn