Audi 2009 Annual Report Download - page 9

Report of the Supervisory Board
6
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
The Company could not have achieved these excellent results
were it not for the tireless commitment showed by the man-
agement, the employees’ elected representatives and the
entire workforce. The Supervisory Board would like to take
this opportunity to express its sincere thanks and recognition
to everyone involved.
There were the following changes to the Company’s Supervi-
sory Board during the past fiscal year:
On the stockholder side, Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger
Härter stepped down from their positions on the Supervisory
Board of AUDI AG with effect from July 23, 2009. The Super-
visory Board would like to thank both gentlemen for the ster-
ling work they did while serving on the supervisory body.
At the request of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, the
Local Court of Ingolstadt appointed Dr. Hans Michel Piëch
and Dr. Ferdinand Oliver Porsche to fill the vacant positions
on the Supervisory Board with effect from November 19,
2009. Among the employees’ elected representatives,
Hubert Waltl left the Supervisory Board at his own request on
September 30, 2009 to take over the role of Member of the
Board for Production and Logistics for the Volkswagen Pas-
senger Cars brand. The Supervisory Board would like to ex-
press its sincerest thanks and recognition to Hubert Waltl for
his committed and successful work on the Supervisory Board.
On October 6, 2009, the Local Court of Ingolstadt appointed
Peter Kössler to replace Hubert Waltl on the Supervisory
Board for the remainder of his term of office.
In the past fiscal year, the Board of Management continued
to provide the Supervisory Board with regular, up-to-date and
comprehensive accounts of its actions. As part of this
process, all decisions fundamentally important to the Com-
pany were extensively discussed between the Board of Man-
agement and the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board
monitored and held extensive discussions with the Board of
Management on the economic situation of the Company,
business performance, the business policy and risk manage-
ment approach, together with the risk exposure of the Com-
pany, at quarterly meetings and also on the basis of regular,
detailed oral and written reports from the Board of Manage-
ment. All members of the Supervisory Board were present
at more than half of the meetings. The Supervisory Board
reached decisions on business developments requiring ur-
gent consideration by written circular. The members of the
Presiding Committee of the Supervisory Board held extensive
consultations before the joint meetings. The Negotiating
Committee did not need to be convened during the past
fiscal year.
The principal topics considered during the meetings of the
Supervisory Board were the financial and economic crisis, and
the direct repercussions of these events on the automotive
industry in general and the Audi Group in particular. The Su-
pervisory Board gathered detailed information on the meas-
ures initiated by the Board of Management to secure the
2009 was a true test of the Audi Group’s resilience and com-
petitiveness in the face of crisis. The global financial and eco-
nomic crisis led to an unprecedented slump in demand on
the automotive markets at the beginning of the year, espe-
cially in the western industrialized nations, the countries of
central and eastern Europe, and Japan. This triggered a slew
of government stimulus packages worldwide, although pre-
mium manufacturers such as the Audi brand only benefited
from these to a limited extent. High refinancing costs, credit
defaults and falling residual values in the used car market
also weighed heavily on the entire sector.
In spite of this difficult environment, the Company further
consolidated its strong competitive position, boosting de-
mand for vehicles sporting the four rings above the premium
car market average in several countries and enabling the
Company to win important market shares. At the same time,
the Audi Group recorded a very positive operating profit
across all of the quarters under review and was thus one
of the most profitable car manufacturers in the premium
segment in 2009.