History
The Brussels plant is over 70 years old. On April 7, 1949, the first vehicle rolled off the production line. From 1970 until the plant was taken over by AUDI AG in 2007, the site belonged to Volkswagen AG and manufactured various Volkswagen Group models. After the takeover, the Brussels location assumed an important role in the Audi Group. The start of production of the Audi A1 in 2010 marked a new era. In the history of the plant, the Audi A1 was the first model to be manufactured exclusively in the European capital. Audi Brussels expanded its production to include the Audi A1 Sportback in 2011, before adding the Audi S1 and Audi S1 Sportback models in 2014. In 2012, Audi Brussels manufactured the Audi A1 quattro as a special limited-edition model. On August 1, 2018, the last first-generation Audi A1 came off the production line in Brussels. In total, almost 910,000 Audi A1 cars had been manufactured in Brussels since May 2010. The successor to the Audi A1 will be built at the Spanish plant in Martorell. 1949 Construction of first production facilities and foundation of plant as “Anciens Etablissements D’Ieteren Frères” 1970 Foundation of Volkswagen Bruxelles S.A. – Brussel N.V. 2005 Foundation of company AutoVision S.A. – N.V. as operator of the Automotive Park 2006 Decision of Volkswagen AG to concentrate VW Golf production at its Wolfsburg and Mosel sites; Restructuring agreement, 2,200 jobs retained 2007–2009 Period of transition: takeover and restructuring of plant by Audi; Production of Audi A3, VW Golf (until summer 2007), and VW Polo (until November 2009) by Audi Brussels 2009 Sixty-year anniversary of Brussels location 2010 Start of production of Audi A1; Production of seven millionth automobile at site 2011 Visit of then Belgian King Albert II; Opening of visitor pathway; 2012 Audi Brussels celebrates fifth anniversary Cooperation agreements for “Dual Education” pilot project 2013 Commissioning of 37,000 square meter photovoltaic power plant 2014 Festivit
Audi as an attractive employer
There are 3,033 employees (as of: 12/31/2023) at the Brussels location. Of these employees, 886 work in production-related jobs and 2,147 work directly in production itself. The three workplace languages are French, Dutch, and German. At Audi Brussels, employee welfare is paramount. A prime example of this is the plant's very own health center. With its Audi Check-Up, it offers a health care program for the entire workforce. Nurses and doctors work there for the health of employees. Audi Brussels is one of the few companies in Belgium that offers this service. Audi Brussels has a good, productive working relationship with the trade unions. In a joint letter of intent (LOI) from 2007, the board of management and the trade unions defined the framework for good cooperation. An important component is the flexible working time account, which has been in place at Audi Brussels since 2010. The “Dual Education” program gives students from two partner schools the opportunity to completed part of their education and training on site at the company. Audi Brussels cooperates with the Erasmushogeschool Brussel and the francophone school “Institute Don Bosco” in Woluwe Saint Pierre. The project allows students to accumulate more practical experience during their education. A further goal is to attract more young people in Belgium to technical and vocational courses. To increase diversity at the site, Audi Brussels has drawn up and implemented a diversity roadmap. In December 2018, Audi Brussels was awarded the Diversity Label of the Brussels-Capital region. Created by the Brussels employment agency in 2008, the award helps companies combat discrimination. In addition, Audi helps its employees maintain a good work-life balance through the various phases of life by means of individual and flexible working-time models.
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Health at Audi
Seven locations, seven best apprentices: Audi’s top trainees in 2022
Anniversary magazine History
Audi is “Best Employer” in 2014
Careers
In January 2024, Bentley was named one of the best employers by the Top Employers Institute for the thirteenth consecutive year – the only representative from the automotive industry in England. Among other things, the award honors the company’s commitment to young employees, the personal development of its employees, and diversity. Bentley employs around 4,000 people in Crewe. With a population of almost 70,000, the town in the county of Cheshire in northwest England has been the company’s headquarters since 1938. To further strengthen this close relationship and promote talented young employees, Bentley has long collaborated with schools and colleges in the region, such as Crewe Engineering & Design UTC, which Bentley co-founded. The company hired 164 new recruits in Crewe in 2023, more than ever in a year. They are a welcome addition to many departments, from mechanical engineering, production, marketing, and communication to project management, human resources, and security. A key strategy is adherence to the overarching values that apply to the entire company. Bentley pursues a zero-tolerance policy toward racism and any other form of discrimination. The company, which employs people from 52 countries, welcomes and promotes diversity regardless of age, origin, gender, faith, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability. This aspiration also extends to the management level: by 2025, 30 percent of Bentley’s management will be diversified. Various initiatives at Bentley promote diversity, including the Be-Proud program for topics related to LGBTQ+, Be-United, which brings together all BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) colleagues as well as other nationally diverse colleagues, and Be-Inspired, which focuses on women in the automotive industry. Bentley has also launched the Be-Inclusive – Diversity Wins training program for HR managers. The aim is to deepen the understanding of each individual’s responsibility to question their personal views and
Portrait of Bentley
Bentley Motors can look back on a rich history but also has a clear road map for the future: Bentley aims to become a completely climate-neutral brand for luxury vehicles by 2030. The British company, based in Crewe, United Kingdom, has been part of Volkswagen AG since 1998 and part of the Audi Group since January 2022. Bentley stands for customized luxury, perfect craftsmanship, and powerful performance. Since 1919, the brand has been manufacturing unmistakable icons in England. In addition to Ducati and Lamborghini, Bentley Motors is part of the Brand Group Progressive. Audi took over the steering function for Bentley on March 1, 2021. Since Bentley Motors has operated under the umbrella of AUDI AG, joint teams of Audi and Bentley employees have identified and launched numerous synergy projects and collaborated on research and development. The next joint project is electrification. By 2030, Bentley aims to become a completely climate-neutral brand for luxury vehicles. Traditional craftsmanship forms the basis of the finest Bentleys In addition to the Bentayga, the current model series includes the Continental and the Flying Spur. The Bacalar, Batur and Blower models are also produced in exclusive small-scale series. There were also special models from Mulliner; the coachbuilder has cooperated with Bentley since 1923. Mulliner builds vehicles for Bentley to this day – partially on a small-unit basis – and sometimes with interior cladding made of 5,000-year-old wood. A single leather seat in a Mulliner Bacalar has exactly 148,199 stitches. By hand, of course. These flagships shape the brand’s DNA – and attract prominent buyers. Bentley customers personalize their cars more than ever In 2023, Bentley Motors achieved global sales of 13,241 luxury cars: its third-best result. Although an 11 percent decrease from 2022 - Bentley’s best-ever sales, interest in luxury personalization reached higher levels than before. Around three-quarters of customers went beyond the 46 b
Health at Audi: “Stay strong, focus the mind”
At Audi, the health of its employees is a top priority – as demonstrated by the company’s recent receipt of the prestigious German Gold Seal of Corporate Health award. In this interview, Dr. Andreas Haller, Head of Audi Occupational Health, explains how exactly the brand with the four rings invests in its employees’ health and discusses the challenges faced by health management in times of transformation.
Audi customer teams win almost 90 titles worldwide
Audi Sport customer racing can look back on a strong season: customer teams on five continents have clinched almost 300 race victories and 87 titles for the brand since January. These successes are spread across the Audi RS 3 LMS touring car and the Audi R8 LMS in the GT4, GT2 and GT3 variants. In the penultimate calendar week of the 2023 season, a worldwide award in a touring car category rounded off Audi Sport customer racing’s record.
Marc Lichte - Biography
Head of Design AUDI AG
Marc Lichte was born in 1969 in Arnsberg, in the Sauerland. He started his career with Volkswagen AG in 1996 while still studying Transportation Design at the Pforzheim University of Applied Science. He was promoted there to Head of the Exterior Design Studio and worked on production models including the VW Golf (generations 5, 6 and 7), the VW Passat (generations 6, 7 and), the VW Touareg (generations 2 and 3) and the VW Arteon. Marc Lichte has been Head of Audi Design since February 1, 2014. In this position, he is responsible for Exterior and Interior Design, Color and Trim, User Interface and User Experience Design (UI/UX Design), as well as the designs of racing cars. With show cars like the Audi prologue concept car (November 2014) and the Audi Q8 concept (January 2017), he offered an accurate preview of the new design language at an early stage of the brand with the four rings. The Head of Audi Design has consistently fulfilled this promise as of today. The new generations from the Audi A1 to the Audi Q8 harmonize design and technology as well as form and function, thus shaping the face of the brand. Be it modern classics such as the luxury sedan Audi A8 or sportily elegant vehicles like the RS 6 and RS Q8 – they all carry the signature touch of a man who already knew he wanted to later become a designer at the brand with the four rings when the Audi Sport quattro came out back in 1983. With the Audi e-tron GT, the premium brand presented a fully electric Gran Turismo in February 2021 as a symbol of the next level of design language – for Marc Lichte, "the most beautiful car that I have ever designed." In 2022, the Audi Q8 e-tron carried on the success story of the pioneer Audi e-tron under a new name. Currently, with the quartet of sphere concept vehicles consisting of the Audi skysphere roadster (August 2021), the Audi grandsphere sedan (September 2021), the Audi urbansphere space concept (April 2022) and the Audi activesph
2023: Combined Annual and Sustainability Report
R 2023 Combined Annual and Sustainability Report 2 Audi Report 2023 FinanceStrategy & Company ESG Appendix Co ve r: A U D I A G | Ph ot o: A U D I A G I became the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Audi Group and its four brands Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati in September 2023. In the months since then, we the Board of Management team have set a number of major priorities and initiated the Audi Agenda, a leading program that clearly defines the areas that we as a company concentrate on. Our focus is on the four fields of “product,” “technology,” “brand” and “regions.” With an operating profit of EUR 6.3 billion and an operating return on sales of 9.0 percent, we posted robust figures for the Audi Group in 2023 and have a solid financial foundation. At the same time, it’s clear that the next few years will challenge the entire automotive industry. Tough global economic conditions, the technological transformation of the automotive industry and highly intensive competition will place great demands on us. We will apply a clear strategy for each of our brands to ensure that we remain successful in this environment. We made landmark decisions for the Audi brand in 2023 and addressed important fields of action as part of the new Audi Agenda. As evidenced by our many new e-models, such as the Audi Q6 e-tron model line followed by the Audi A6 e-tron family,¹ as well as an entirely new generation of combustion models and plug-in hybrids, Audi is well-positioned for the future on its way to an all-electric product portfolio. As we move forward, the focus will be on premium quality and our customers. We will also concentrate on strengthening the Audi brand in our three core regions – Europe, China and North America – and further balancing our global positioning. In particular, we want to seize new opportunities in the USA. In China, production of fully electric Audi models will also commence this year at our new joint venture with FAW in Changchun. Dear Readers