Audi further expands its e-commerce offerings together with retail partners worldwide
Another e-commerce project has meanwhile been launched in Germany: On a new, Group-wide platform, customers will be able to buy new cars around the clock directly from Audi dealer stock. An initial pilot project with one Audi partner is now underway, with additional dealerships to follow successively over the course of the year. “The aim is to offer a complete digital solution that is contactless and available 24/7, and that conveniently covers every step of the car purchasing process from any location: from the purchase using various payment options to registration and personal delivery to the desired location by our Audi partners,” said Martin Wallenborn, Head of Business Development Market Germany at AUDI AG. With respect to financing, the Audi pilot project is first starting with cash purchases. For the medium term, the company is focusing on an end-to-end digital solution for financing and leasing through Audi Bank. The online shop can now be accessed at https://kaufen.audi.de. This solution will also be rolled out successively in other markets worldwide. Audi already started online sales of used cars in Germany in autumn 2017. Around 130 Audi partners offer an average of 4,000 used Audi models online here. This sales channel will be moved to the new online platform by the end of the year. The premium mobility service Audi on demand has also been available completely digitally since last year: Customers in Germany can book their dream Audi online for a period of between one and 28 days at www.audiondemand.de. The digital reservation and purchasing solutions also feature various tools for online service and consultation. With Audi Live Consultation, for example, Audi is further expanding its digital sales business, offering dealers and customers a contactless alternative to visits to a dealership.
Audi Study: No Congestion in the City of the Future
These findings encourage us to continue our investment in the future: in self-driving cars such as the Audi Aicon, services like Audi on demand, or networked technology such as Audi traffic-light information,” says Melanie Goldmann, head of Trend Communication at Audi. The study also examines more extreme scenarios. For example, what happens if there is a sharp increase in the number of people who use public transportation, walk, or travel by bike? What is the effect of high levels of delivery traffic as a result of online shopping? And what happens if cities do not permit self-driving cars or are slow or reluctant to digitalize their infrastructure? The results range from shorter journey times in commuter traffic (-40%) to gridlock. “The effects of connected and automated vehicles and of other technical and societal developments are continuously studied in the transportation research community. In most cases, the studies focus on single aspects of these developments in order to better identify the isolated effect of exactly that aspect alone. Our objective was different: We wanted to draw a picture of what mobility will look like when all these effects come together,” says Professor Peter Vortisch, head of the Institute for Transport at the KIT. In the traffic model for Ingolstadt, the researchers investigated only one parameter in isolation, without taking account of changes in user behavior or increased demand: how many self-driving cars would be needed today to make the traffic flow noticeably better? At least 40 percent! Computers maintain the necessary distance to other vehicles, do not drive too fast, and obey all traffic signals. However, according to several academic studies, in a mixed traffic situation this has a disadvantage for traffic flow. Journey times are noticeably cut only with an increasing number of autonomous cars: if the roads in Ingolstadt today were used only by autonomous vehicles, travel times would fall by one quarter.
The Off-Roader of the Future – the Audi AI:TRAIL quattro
Emissions-free driving in the great outdoors Four electric motors and a quattro drive Aicon and friends: Audi bringing all four visionary vehicles to the IAA
Audi is completing its quartet of visionary vehicles and will be at IAA 2019 to showcase an electric off-roader for the future of road transport: the Audi AI:TRAIL quattro, a comprehensive concept for sustainable mobility off the beaten track. All four visionary use case vehicles—the Audi Aicon, AI:ME, AI:RACE and AI:TRAIL will be on show together at Audi’s stand in Hall 3 throughout the whole of IAA 2019.
The four-seater Audi AI:TRAIL quattro combines the capacity for automated driving with superb off-road capabilities. The glass surrounding the cabin extends all the way to ground level, providing unrivaled all-round visibility. The ample battery capacity ensures sufficient range even away from dense networks of charging stations. The “Trail” part of the name evokes the idea of exploring nature. That is why there are no big screens on board for streaming TV series or videoconferencing; instead, broad glass surfaces provide a clear view of the surroundings. This is how Marc Lichte, Audi’s Head of Design, describes the use case: “With the AI:TRAIL, we are showing an off-road concept with an emissions-free electric drive for an innovative driving experience away from paved roads. Consistent with this, we designed a monolithic basic vehicle body with maximum glazing to create an intense connection to the surroundings. A concept for sustainable mobility on demand.” Audi’s visionary vehicles The Audi AI:TRAIL quattro is the fourth entrant in the series of concept cars with electric drive systems, which began with the presentation of the Audi Aicon at the 2017 iteration of the IAA. Following this luxury-class vehicle very much intended for highly automated long-distance driving, an emissions-free monoposto designed for the race track, the Audi PB18 e-tron, made its debut in Pebble Beach in 2018.
Mobility for Megacities: Audi AI:ME
Users can take selfies on board and share them in social networks. They can access the entire Internet for the purposes of entertainment, research, and service. Users can order food on the way and make a quick, automated stop at a restaurant to have it delivered to the car, and then enjoy their meal in the vehicle on their way home. The connection between the user’s home network and the Audi AI:ME even allows users to continue watching a movie using the VR goggles in the car, picking up where they left off at home. On their way home from work, they can close their eyes, enjoy the silence on board, and relax. The Audi AI:ME becomes a fixed point in its user’s personal digital biotope. The tedious daily journey from A to B turns into an enjoyable ride with free time. After they have arrived at their destination, the users can get out of the car, relaxed and in good spirits, and do not even have to look for a parking spot or charging station. The Audi AI:ME will find its own way back to the depot. “Audi on demand” is available in metropolises on several continents and is already the perfect example of the future expansion of Audi’s offer into a global mobility service provider. With the simultaneous expansion and specialization of the vehicle fleet, this program will become even more attractive to customers with high demands in the future. The premium vehicle offer itself and the digital integration of the automobile and living environment will give the Audi brand a head start in this segment, too: Vorsprung durch Technik. Additional information is available at the Audi Mediacenter www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/presskits/auto-shanghai-2019-11452. What's behind the concept of Audi AI:ME from the designer's perspective you can learn on https://www.audi.com/de/experience-audi/models-and-technology/concept-cars/audi-aime.html
“Consistently Audi”: Board of Management presents corporate realignment to shareholders
For Audi Sport’s business with high-performance models, the company plans a significant increase in sales volumes and earnings. “A prerequisite for the success of our strategic realignment is that we position Audi in a structurally efficient manner and lead it back to financial top performance. Already in 2018, we established a clearly defined program for this in the form of the Audi Transformation Plan,” says Alexander Seitz, Member of the Board of Management for Finance, China and Legal Affairs. “Recent months have shown that our measures are taking effect and that we can at least partially offset the current extraordinarily high adverse factors. We will build on this in a highly disciplined manner, because our environment and future course will continue to challenge us enormously.” Following the successful launch of the Transformation Plan, Audi has increased the program’s target to a total of €15 billion between 2018 and 2022. In recent months, the Audi Board of Management has initiated the company’s organizational enhancement; the transformation process has begun in all divisions. The aim is to streamline structures and processes, align them to key areas and increase the speed of implementation. The Integrity, Compliance, Risk Management department now reports directly to the Chairman of the Board of Management. With the establishment of an international customer advisory committee, intended to be closely involved in the product development process, Audi is strengthening its focus on customer-relevant offerings throughout the entire company. Audi will increasingly accelerate innovations with high customer relevance through strategically attractive partnerships. The Four Rings plan to significantly expand the “Audi on demand” flexible premium mobility service in a far-reaching cooperation with mobility service provider SIXT.