Audi 2014 Annual Report Download - page 147

BASIS OF THE AUDI GROUP
STRATEGY
>> 147
drawing on the entire range of colors and trim available, and
experience it in full size. In 2014, we refined the technologies
that we use in the Audi City with a view to gradually rolling
them out at our dealerships worldwide. Individual modules –
such as multitouch tables and the exclusive Customer Private
Lounge that enables us to conduct sales consultations in an
exclusive setting – can now be integrated flexibly into dealer
premises, as required. The new Audi virtual reality glasses,
which were first unveiled at the end of 2014, create an encoun-
ter of a special kind by allowing the wearer to experience the
vehicle in three dimensions. The Audi brand also delivers mem-
orable, emotion-packed experiences at a variety of national
and international events. These include the Audi ultra Cup, a
separate regatta held during the Kieler Woche – one of the
world’s major yachting events.
Various driving and safety training courses at the new Audi
driving experience center in Neuburg give our customers access
to unique driving experiences. Since May 2014, we have held a
wide range of customer events here on a 30,000 square meter
dynamics area, a handling course and an off-road area.
Our customers can also savor special, memorable moments
when collecting their new car at the Audi Forums in Ingolstadt
and Neckarsulm. Customers have the option of booking a
customer relationship manager to accompany them. Along
with interesting background information on the history of the
Audi brand, the customer receives a personal tour of the plant,
during which they witness first hand how much precision and
care goes into building cars of the Audi brand.
// WE SHAPE AUDI
Our steady volume growth, a progressively broader product
portfolio, growing internationalization and the development
of new technologies and business areas are key challenges for
the Audi Group. It is vitally important for us to continue refining
our structures and processes if we are to prepare the ground
for high-quality, profitable growth in the future as well. When
making our product and investment decisions, we always con-
sider how to deliver maximum benefit to the customer. Our
employees’ expertise and passion for the products of the Audi
brand are equally a major success factor.
// WE LIVE RESPONSIBILITY
“We live responsibility” reflects how the three pillars of sus-
tainability – society, ecology and economics – underpin the
Audi strategy. They each carry equal weight in our corporate
decisions. Particular emphasis was placed on product-related
topics over the past year, and specifically on how our vehicles
can meet increasingly tough COĊ emission limits.
The “Corporate Responsibility” area brings all sustainability-
related activities together under one roof and helps the com-
panies of the Audi Group to put into action the five defined
core themes Product, Environment, Employees, Society and
Operations. The Audi Corporate Responsibility Report sheds
light on the goals and measures designed to promote sustain-
ability. We updated the sustainability data in 2014 and sub-
mitted a progress report to the UN Global Compact, the world’s
largest corporate social responsibility initiative. We also pub-
lished our first Declaration of Conformity with the German
Sustainability Code last year. The next full sustainability report
will be published in time for the Annual General Meeting of
AUDI AG in May 2015.
In September 2014, the Board of Management of AUDI AG
defined the term “ultra” as a leitmotif of pioneering sustaina-
bility issues. The “ultra” badge has consequently undergone a
steady evolution: Originally used to denote Audi lightweight
construction, the ultra models also incorporated the dimen-
sion of efficient automotive technologies starting in 2013. In
the future, it will be used to signify our ambition to compre-
hensively align the brand essence “Vorsprung durch Technik”
with sustainability. Here too, we work on the premise that all
three pillars of sustainability must be taken into consideration.
Together with our stakeholders, we reviewed the relevance of
key aspects of sustainability in 2014. The international loca-
tions in Belgium, Italy, Mexico and Hungary also participated
in this process. In addition, in partnership with the Fresenius
University of Applied Sciences for Management, Business and
Media, Munich, we carried out the project “Materiality analysis
of international sustainability aspects for AUDI AG” in 2014.
The goal was to establish how relevant the sustainability
aspects defined by the Global Reporting Initiative are for a
company in the automotive industry, and specifically for Audi,
in the countries Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Mexico.
We mapped the results of the external and internal analyses in
a matrix, vividly expressing the relevance for Audi (on the x-axis)
and its stakeholders (on the y-axis) in relation to each other.