Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

Report of the Supervisory Board _ 03
The Board of Management gave the Supervisory
Board regular, up-to-date and comprehensive accounts
of its actions; decisions of fundamental importance to
the Company were discussed in depth by the Board of
Management and Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board
considered the economic framework and the Company’s
business progress and business policy as well as its risk
management and risk situation at quarterly meetings and
by means of regular oral and written reports from the Board
of Management, and consulted the Board of Management
closely on these matters. At its meetings the Supervisory
Board also discussed future mobility concepts and how they
are to be realized. It expressly applauds the Audi Group’s
intensive work on key areas of innovation ranging from
lightweight construction to electric mobility in order to
systematically extend the Company’s technological lead
embodied in “Vorsprung durch Technik” further. In this
connection, the Supervisory Board also approved strategic
investments as a means of safeguarding development
expertise and capacity long-term. Other focal topics included
the debt situation of a number of countries, including its
potential impact on sales and the long-term sales strategy.
In approving the human resources, fi nancial and investment
plans, the Supervisory Board confi rmed the Board of
Management’s strategic decisions and thus gave its backing
to the goal of becoming the world’s leading premium
brand. The Supervisory Board furthermore approved the
content of the annual Declaration of Compliance pursuant to
Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG).
All Supervisory Board members were present at more
than half of the meetings. The members of the Presiding
Committee held full consultations before each meeting. The
Negotiating Committee did not need to be convened in 2011.
There were no changes in the composition of the
Supervisory Board during the past fi scal year.
The Audit Committee also met once per quarter in the
past fi scal year. At its meetings, the committee considered
the Annual and Consolidated Financial Statements for
2010 as well as other topics such as risk management and
compliance work, changes in key markets and the
corresponding decisions of the Board of Management.
The Audit Committee moreover scrutinized the 2011
Interim Financial Report prior to its publication and dis-
cussed its contents with the Board of Management and
representatives of the auditing fi rm. The Audit Committee
in addition advised on the independence of the auditors,
the fi ndings of additional audits commissioned and the
current situation at the end of 2011.
Upon the proposal of the Supervisory Board, the Annual
General Meeting of AUDI AG appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers
Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
as auditor of the accounts for the 2011 fi scal year. The
Supervisory Board awarded the audit assignment to the
auditing fi rm after its election. The auditor of the accounts
confi rmed 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 the 2011 fi scal year, and in each case issued
its unqualifi ed certifi cation.
The members of the Audit Committee and Supervisory
Board received the documentation for the Annual and
Consolidated Financial Statements, together with the
corresponding audit reports by the auditors, well in advance
of their meeting on February 17, 2012. The auditing fi rm’s
representatives explained the key fi ndings of their audit
in detail at the meetings of the Audit Committee and
Supervisory Board, and then answered queries from both
bodies. According to information supplied by the auditing
fi rm, there were no circumstances that might give cause
for concern about the auditors’ partiality.
Following examination of the audit documents
received and in-depth discussions with the auditors’
representatives, and based on its own conclusions, the
Audit Committee recommended to the Supervisory Board
at the meeting on February 17, 2012 that the Annual
and Consolidated Financial Statements each be signed
off . After appropriate discussions, the Supervisory Board
accepted this recommendation and signed off the Annual
and Consolidated Financial Statements prepared by the
Board of Management. The Annual Financial Statements
are thus established.
There were no changes in the composition of the
Company’s Board of Management during the past fi scal year.
The Board of Management has suitably taken account
of the economic environment and future challenges when
making its plans. The Board of Management intends to
pursue the chosen path of growth, based on an attractive
product range, effi cient engines and new mobility concepts.
The Supervisory Board will continue to support the Board
of Management throughout this process in an advisory role.
Ingolstadt, February 17, 2012
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
“2011 saw the Audi brand
sell 210,000 more vehicles
than in 2010, taking it to a
new deliveries record.”
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn