Corporate Monthly summary

Audi has set yet another sales record in China, delivering a total of 60,509 automobiles to customers in China (including Hong Kong) between January and June – the most successful half-year period in Audi’s 20-year history in China.

Audi Tradition is marking this year's Festival of Speed at Goodwood, England (July 11 to 13, 2008) with a world debut. At the largest classic car racing event in the world, the Ingolstadt company will be taking the wraps off an absolutely authentic reconstruction of the original Auto Union "Silverarrow" Type D Dual Compressor from 1939.

Audi is focusing on Audi Brussels with large investments. Having provided approximately € 100 million for the necessary renovation of the plant’s infrastructure in the first stage, Audi is now investing the same amount in equipping the body shop, paint shop and assembly plant to produce the new A1. Series production of the compact premium vehicle will begin in Brussels in 2010. The automotive factory in Forest will thus become the exclusive producer of a model for the first time in its history. In addition to the basic version of the Audi A1, other variants are planned in the mid-term as well.

A multi-national final held in 25 languages: 60 Audi teams from 36 nations travelled to the Formula 1 circuit in Istanbul from June 5 to 7 to crown a world champion from their ranks. Their goal, however, was not to win a car race – even though the teams are all top experts in the automotive world. AUDI AG had invited its dealers’ best service teams worldwide to put their knowledge and skills to the test in an international competition.

AUDI AG sold more than 426,200 vehicles worldwide from January to May, an increase of 1.5 percent. In the month of May, Audi increased sales to 88,200 vehicles, up an additional 0.8 percent versus the strong prior-year month. The strongest growth drivers were once again the Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe regions.

Audi celebrated the 20th anniversary of its partnership with First Automobile Works (FAW) in Changchun today and laid the cornerstone for a new assembly hall. The company also announced the local production of the Audi Q5 at the Changchun plant.

Johannes Thammer (52) will become the new Managing Director of the Audi Sales Division in China as of June 1, 2008. The current Head of After Sales and Genuine Parts for Audi succeeds Werner Eichhorn (45), who has been announced by Volkswagen as the new Head of Sales for Germany for Volkswagen Passenger Cars as of June 2008. Bernd Hoffmann (44) will take over the position vacated by Thammer.

AUDI AG is donating one million RMB (100,000 euros) to the aid fund in China to support orphans in Sichuan. The province in southwestern China was struck by a major earthquake last week. A separate employee campaign will coordinate donations by Audi employees at both its production sites in Germany.

Following a very successful 2007, Audi is on course to achieve top figures once again in 2008. “We will continue to pursue our course of profitable growth,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, today at the company’s 119th Annual General Meeting in Ingolstadt.

With the start of the second quarter, sales at AUDI AG are once again showing stronger growth. The brand sold more than 86,700 cars worldwide in the past month. While sales figures over the first four months rose by a total of 1.7 percent to around 338,000 cars, the rate of growth in April alone stood at 2.9 percent. The biggest drivers of the increase in sales were the Eastern European and Asia-Pacific markets.

AUDI AG will be one of the main sponsors at the Mille Miglia for the first time. From 15 to 17 May 2008, Audi Tradition will take six historic automobiles to Brescia, where the 1,000-mile race across half of Italy starts and finishes. Taking part for the first time this year will be Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. He will be piloting a Wanderer W 25.

On Audi tv, the excitement continues shortly after the finish: Every DTM race weekend, Audi's internet-based television channel brings you exclusive background reports from the race circuit, presents the Audi team drivers in interviews, and questions engine and vehicle developers about their racing tourers' secrets. A must-see for true DTM fans.

After announcing its title sponsorship in the Audi MedCup, AUDI AG extends its commitment in sailing by additionally supporting the German boat “Platoon powered by Team Germany”.

Audi is making a strong showing at Hanover Fair, which opened today. Michael Dick and Dr. Werner Widuckel, members of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, are underscoring the company’s commitment to promoting young engineers through their involvement in two events of the Association of German Engineers (VDI). Audi plans to hire 800 new employees this year, of which around two thirds will be engineers.

When Christopher Rhody starts a crash test, everything stays nice and quiet. No loud crashing noises, no broken glass and no bent fenders. The Audi employee responsible for developing side and head protection simulates crash situations on a computer. New supercomputers now make these crash simulations even more precise and realistic. The “cluster” – a collection of 320 processors – achieves over 15 teraflops of processing power, which corresponds to 15 billion computer operations per second. All this makes it the fastest computer in the automotive industry – and one of the 150 fastest in the world.

The first three months of this year have been the most successful first quarter in the history of AUDI AG: From January to March, the brand with the four rings achieved worldwide sales of 251,268 cars – 1.3 percent more than in the first three month of last year.

A spectacular array of premiers awaits visitors to the Audi booth at the 2008 AMI in Leipzig from April 5-13. The Audi booth is located in Hall 1 of the Leipziger Messe exhibition center. The focus is on the German premiers of the new Audi A4 Avant, the Audi A3 Cabriolet, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI, the Audi TTS – the sporty top model of the TT line – and the Audi TT TDI, the first series-production sports car to feature a diesel engine.

AUDI AG is publishing its doctoral candidates’ dissertations for the first time in cooperation with Cuvillier Publishing House of Göttingen. The result is uniform and visually appealing doctoral thesis publications.

The Audi Sport quattro has just turned 25 years of age. In 1983, the "Shorty", as it was affectionately known, caused a sensation as the most powerful series-produced German car. It is thus logical that Audi Tradition will be represented at the 20th Techno Classica in Essen, Germany (from 26 to 30 March 2008) with the motto "25 years of Audi Sport quattro".

The new engine test centre in Neckarsulm supports environmentally friendly power plant testing. Thanks to the use of sophisticated technology, it deploys valuable resources economically and meets high environmental standards. Noise impact on the adjoining residential area has been reduced significantly.

On Thursday, March 13, 2008, following a successfully completed test run, the new engine testing centre at Audi's Neckarsulm site was officially inaugurated. In future, the development activities of the Group's various plants will also become even more closely interlinked courtesy of 19 state-of-the-art engine test rigs.

AUDI AG’s outstanding results in fiscal 2007 are paying off for the around 45,000 employees at its German locations in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm: The company will be distributing €222 million (154)* to its employees this year.

Audi takes an innovative approach to presenting success:
At its Annual Press Conference today, the brand with the four rings published its 2007 Annual Report, which has been designed with creativity and passion.

The AUDI AG corporate identity has a new face: A new era has begun for customers and visitors to the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. The changes were based on Audi’s new showroom concept, using superbly crafted materials.

In the 2007 fiscal year, AUDI AG once again achieved record figures for production, vehicle sales, revenue and profit.

Audi can now take advantage of the possibilities offered by a one-of-a-kind climate simulator.

The Audi Group not only achieved its best annual sales figures in 2007 for the 12th time in a row. It also accomplished yet another production record, with 980,880 cars built in total (including Lamborghini), up 5.9 percent compared to last year’s result.

After the successful kick-off last year, AUDI AG has expanded its commitment in international sailing: with immediate effect, Audi is the title sponsor of the Audi MedCup.

Ralph Weyler, who has been the Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG since 1 October 2003, has left the company and will set up his own corporate consultancy business. He will work in an advisory capacity for, amongst others, AUDI AG and the Volkswagen Group.

For Lorena Ochoa, 2007 was absolutely a dream year: With eight triumphs, the Mexican golfer clinched the year’s largest number of victories, reaped various awards and played her way to the top of all LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tables.

AUDI AG successfully increased its worldwide sales by 4.7 percent in January, handing over a total of approximately 78,700 cars to customers. The brand registered rising sales in Europe and America as well as in the growth regions of Asia.

The sculpture already thrilled people in Berlin, Beijing and Hongkong – in the next five weeks Munich’s football fans, as well, will experience the XXL-sized Audi TT: Audi will set up the sculpture that weighs ten tons and is a little over ten metres long in front of the Allianz Arena.