Audi 2010 Annual Report Download - page 110

108
Watch the interview about goals,
discipline and success here:
www.audi.com/ar2010/success
O
PHOTOS | FRANK BAUER/GETTY IMAGES (2); WOLFANGO; DAVID KÖNIGSMANN/TANK MANAGEMENT
boundaries. That is what I have
carried over from sport into the world
of business. And there’s a second
realization: Succeeding on your own is
very diffi cult. I always feel I am part
of a team. I always tried to remember
that when I set up my company. It
was clear to me that I couldn’t do it
on my own and that I needed team
players to help me. I looked for people
who shared the same spirit as me and
wanted to join me in creating the best
cross-country ski wear from a technical
viewpoint. I think that’s one of the
benchmarks of success for my brand.
Strotbek: What does mobility mean
to you?
Dæhlie: I’ve a confession to make:
When I was at school I designed cars.
My friends and I ran an unoffi cial
competition to produce the best sports
car designs. Cars have fascinated me
ever since. In fact, my fi rst sponsored
car in 1990 was an Audi 100 quattro.
I was very proud of it, particularly
because it had the rally design. But it’s
my turn to ask you something: Is it true
that you go running every morning?
Strotbek: As well as our enthusiasm
for Audi this is another thing we have
in common. Sport plays a major role
in my life. I try to go running every
day. As well as helping me to tank up
energy, it clears my mind. Both these
aspects are very useful in my job. I’m
absolutely convinced that experience
gleaned from sport helps you in
your professional life: the need for
discipline to raise your performance,
the ability to handle defeat, and the
concentration it takes to succeed.
That is why I also encourage my
management team to take part in
sport. Our business has a great deal
in common with sport, it is about
competition. For it to perform well,
it needs a fi t organization, quick-
thinkers, fast reactions, motivation
and the will to win. That’s what I try
to convey to my team.
Dæhlie: I think there’s a kind of
sporting ethos that is a fundamental
attribute of the business world. I
want to become world market leader
with Bj SPORT, but at the same time
I’m working on erecting a huge wind
farm of 100 turbines on the Swedish-
Norwegian border. That is also a
sporting challenge. But I’m adamant
that green energy is the way forward.
Strotbek: Audi, too, sees green
energy as the shape of things to
come. Energy consumption and CO2
emissions need to be cut – those are
two core objectives of our research
and development work. We are
already well on the way to achieving
them: Our A3 TDI clean diesel was
voted Green Car of the Year 2010 in
the United States, the Audi e-tron
models are charged up on our factory
site in Ingolstadt with power from
a photovoltaic plant around 19,000
square meters in size, and the 150,000
vehicles that we ship from Emden
are brought there by trains running
on green electricity. But that’s just
the start. Audi now also wants to
underscore its claim to lead the way in
such areas of ecology. We are already
considering how to access renewable
solar energy sources in the Middle East
and North Africa. And wind power will
fundamentally also increasingly gain in
importance. I am certain that Northern
Europe in particular is an excellent
region in which to generate wind
power. Renewable sources of energy
will play a major role in the future.
For you, and for Audi.
HOST | MICHAEL KNEISSLER
“Our business has a
great deal in common
with sport. It is
about competition.”
“My philosophy:
pure function.
Everything must
be necessary
and perfect.”
Bjørn Dæhlie,
eight-time Olympic champion
Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Manage-
ment for Finance and Organization, AUDI AG