The Volkswagen Group increased its investment in future technologies to 73 billion euros in November. The Audi subsidiary will play a central role in the Wolfsburg-based company's next focus on electric mobility. The Ingolstadt brand has now announced that it will strengthen its budget for electronic mobility by 2025.
With its investment planning for the next five years, Audi is accelerating the shift to a networked and sustainable premium mobility provider: “With a total of around € 35 billion, advances, especially for future vehicle projects, remain at a high level, despite the difficult economic environment. "About 17 billion euros, and thus half of the investment, will go to future technologies alone," a press release said.
As with the entire Volkswagen Group, Audi is also strengthening its electromobility advance payments. To this end, the premium manufacturer plans about 15 billion euros along with hybridization, thus underlining the importance of its "electrical guide". The necessary financial freedom would create synergies in the Volkswagen Group through an e-platform strategy and also in software development. Moreover, there would be improvements in fixed costs at Audi, a structuring of the product portfolio and savings on non-vehicle investments.
"With the investment planning that has taken place now, we are strengthening Audi for the future transformation of its core business. Technological leadership in electrical and fully networked management is the aspiration of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board. We are equipping Audi with the power it needs, ”said Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Audi AG.
10 billion for electric cars
According to Audi, the focus of investment planning for the years 2021 to 2025 is on a large-scale offensive with fully and partially electric models. Of the roughly 15 billion euros earmarked for electrification, 10 billion are reserved for electric cars, while 5 billion are available for hybridization. Audi plans to expand its e-portfolio to around 30 models by 2025, about 20 of which are purely electric-batteries. To do this, the brand uses the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) along with its sister company Porsche, as well as the Volkswagen Group Platform Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB) Manual. Further technology will be developed in the next Audi project "Artemis".
To digitize the offer, Audi chief Markus Duesmann is taking over the chairmanship of the new organization Car.Software, in which Volkswagen's brand expertise will be merged and further expanded. The Group's own software unit develops a uniform operating system with basic functions for all Group vehicles. Area of responsibility of the car. The software organization also includes the further development of automated driving functions.
"Our investment planning speaks a clear language: We do not compromise on the substance of the product and clearly give priority to advance payments for electromobility and software development," says Duesmann, who is responsible for research and development at the Volkswagen Group. Audi management. "Sustained focus on group synergies on these key topics of the future is an important key to success."
