Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 168

ECONOMIC REPORT
PROCUREMENT // PRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT REPORT
165
A
With the aim of gradually developing and strengthening ties
with the supply industry, the Audi Group regularly holds a
variety of events and workshops for suppliers. For example, in
the past fiscal year we held an Audi Q5 Suppliers Workshop
coinciding with the laying of the foundation stone for our new
plant in San José Chiapa (Mexico). The event gave over 100
representatives of local and global suppliers an opportunity to
find out about our Company’s plans for production in Mexico
beginning in 2016 and strengthen their specialist exchange
with contacts in the Audi Group.
The steady expansion of our location structures and product
portfolio means the strategic importance of procurement will
continue to rise. This fact, along with the highly complex nature
of supply chains, has prompted us to step up purchased parts
and supplier management. In addition, tool and process experts
from the procurement and quality assurance areas make sure
that the necessary materials are always available and that the
required quality standards are maintained, ensuring the success-
ful start of production for new models and reliable parts supply
within the Audi production network.
Sustainability in supplier relations is a core consideration of the
Audi Group’s procurement activities, and is at the very heart of
our procurement philosophy. According to this, all suppliers and
business partners are expected to uphold defined governance,
environmental and social standards. In order to meet our high
standards of entrepreneurial responsibility, we also expect our
suppliers to secure a commitment to these sustainability re-
quirements from their own suppliers. The early inclusion of
suppliers in the product development process enables us to
find ways of using alternative materials or of using materials
more effectively.
In 2013, the Company also signed up to the Aluminium Steward-
ship Initiative (ASI). The purpose of this non-profit initiative is
to develop a global sustainability standard for aluminum hand
in hand with leading aluminum manufacturers by the end of
2014, defining both environmental and social criteria that will
be valid from raw material extraction through production and
processing to the final product. The aim is to promote compli-
ance with sustainability standards along the entire value and
supply chain for one of our most important materials.
PRODUCTION 1)
We increased automotive production by the Audi Group to a
total of 1,608,048 (1,469,205) vehicles in the 2013 fiscal year.
Of these, 420,060 (333,554) cars of the Audi brand were made
by the joint venture FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company, Ltd.
Overall, 1,605,926 (1,467,008) Audi vehicles and 2,122
(2,197) supercars of the Lamborghini brand were built world-
wide in the period under review.
In addition, the Ducati Group produced a total of 45,018
(15,734) motorcycles up to the end of 2013. The prior-year
figure includes only the bikes manufactured after the acquisi-
tion of the Ducati Group in July 2012. In the equivalent prior-
year period from January through December 2012, the Ducati
brand built a total of 43,992 motorcycles.
In 2013, we built 576,680 (551,889) vehicles of the Audi brand
at the Group headquarters in Ingolstadt. The 4.5 percent in-
crease in production volume is attributable in particular to
high demand for the new model generation of the A3 car line.
A total of 275,650 (262,965) cars were produced at the
Neckarsulm plant in the year under review. The main reasons
for this rise in production are continuing high demand for the
popular A4 Sedan and for our luxury sedan model, the A8.
1) Prior-year figures have been marginally adjusted.