Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 140

137
Management Report
134 Audi Group
134 Structure
136 Strategy
140 Shares
141 Disclosures required under
takeover law
143 System of remuneration for
the Supervisory Board and
Board of Management
143 Business and underlying
situation
159 Financial performance
indicators
162 Social and ecological aspects
175 Risks, opportunities
and outlook
187 Disclaimer
We define innovation
The declared ambition of the Audi brand to offer its customers high-quality, innovative vehicles
is expressed in the brand essence “Vorsprung durch Technik.” This is accompanied by a clear
design idiom that gives the brand’s progressive character a visual grounding.
The models of the Audi brand feature a wide range of technological innovations. The Company
has defined various key technologies that will occupy a special role in the development of new
vehicles. For example, all activities involving electric mobility will be grouped together under the
umbrella brand Audi e-tron. Audi ultra embodies the lightweight technology that the Audi brand
has been pioneering ever since launching the Audi Space Frame (ASF) in 1994. The brand has
since intensified its activities in this field with a view to making vehicles ever lighter. Today, the
Company focuses on the use of intelligent combinations of materials, which include aluminum,
carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP), modern steel alloys and magnesium. Then there is Audi
connect, the umbrella brand launched by the Company to bracket together trendsetting naviga-
tion and infotainment functions, as well as technologies that connect drivers with the Internet,
the car and their surroundings.
In addition to product-based innovations, the Audi brand is working on new mobility concepts.
Since 2011, for example, customers’ mobility behavior in electrically powered cars has been the
subject of a study that is part of the A1 e-tron fleet trial in Munich.
We create experiences
To delight its customers time and time again, the Company aims to create special, positive expe-
riences that customers will associate with the Audi brand. These include modern sales concepts
such as the showroom configurator, which makes it quick and easy for visitors to an Audi dealer-
ship to create the Audi vehicle of their choice on large screens, with life-like, three-dimensional
images.
In 2011, the Audi brand came up with a very special way of presenting its new Q3 premium SUV:
the “Audi Q3 Cube.” In selected downtown districts of major cities, including Barcelona, Paris
and Munich, customers and interested parties were given the opportunity to discover the Q3’s
qualities in a mirror-filled cube up to 14 meters high.
Another way of experiencing the Audi brand emotionally is to collect a new car in person from
the Audi Forums in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Audi’s premium vehicle handover facilities
demonstrate to the customer just how much care and precision go into building Audi vehicles.
The program is rounded out by a look at the history of the Company and culinary delights. To
make the experience even more special, customers can tailor the handover to their own individual
preferences. Accompanied by a customer relationship manager throughout the entire day, they
are given a personal tour of the factory, making the occasion a truly memorable one.
We live responsibility
The Audi brand also expresses customer delight through a form of corporate responsibility that
seeks to strike an appropriate balance between social or ecological requirements and economic
success.
In order to maintain the high regard in which the brand and the Company are held and increase
their lead over the competition, Audi has created a department specifically to address this task.
Hand in hand with all the divisions, the Corporate Responsibility department pursues the strategic
goal of value orientation. It advocates responsible action and behavior as the basis for sustainable
success.
The core management tasks of Corporate Responsibility also include defining strategic guide-
lines and decision-making criteria. These guidelines are derived from the Strategy 2020 goals
and are intended to highlight the link between social responsibility, preserving resources and
long-term economic activity.
As a global company with nearly 64,000 employees, the Audi Group is very much in the public
eye. Its capacity to supply information and reports on corporate responsibility matters is there-
fore being further expanded.