Shaping the future together: stakeholder management at Audi

An honest assessment and an external perspective are essential for the continuous development of the Audi sustainability strategy.

This is why engagement with relevant stakeholders¹ plays a central role in the Audi sustainability strategy. We enter into dialogue with them at various levels and thus receive important impetus for our long-term strategic sustainability work.

With the aid of various stakeholder management tools (see infographic), Audi seeks to gain a precise understanding of the interests and needs of its stakeholders¹ – thus enabling the company to align its decisions even more closely with societal and social concerns.

The materiality analysis, which Audi has been carrying out since 2012, is an important instrument in engagement with stakeholders.¹ Customers, suppliers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), analysts and other stakeholders¹ use an online survey to assess the relevance of predefined relevant action areas stipulated by Audi. This helps the company prioritize important sustainability topics according to their relevance.
 

This external view of the company is supplemented by an impact assessment (inside-out perspective). As part of this analysis, the Audi Group takes a more precise look at its positive and negative impacts on the environment and society – also in the predefined action areas. 
 

The materiality matrix visualizes the results from the outside-in assessment and the inside-out assessment in a manner that is easy to understand.

What type of feedback does Audi hope to get from the dialogue formats? What will help move the company forward? What is the “outside-in perspective” on issues? What suggestions do the experts have? Audi wants to learn, examine perspectives, gather suggestions and build trust.

In 2022, Audi – as one of the founding partners – made its third appearance at the GREENTECH FESTIVAL in Berlin. The goal is for the GREENTECH FESTIVAL to become a world-renowned platform for the most pressing issues of the day. Running from June 22 to 24, 2022, the GREENTECH FESTIVAL was an opportunity for the company to demonstrate that its products, processes and materials are all geared toward climate protection and sustainability – thanks to a combination of innovation, technology and digitalization. At the Audi booth, Audi experts welcomed visitors for discussions on all aspects of sustainable mobility. After Berlin, in mid-October the GREENTECH FESTIVAL took place for the second time on an international stage in London, followed by the GREENTECH FESTIVAL in New York and the GREENTECH FESTIVAL in Singapore in mid-November.

Audi discusses ecological, economic and social issues in partnership with stakeholders through a variety of initiatives, federations and work groups. For example, the following commitments demonstrate how far-reaching and effective this engagement is:

Global Battery Alliance: Audi subscribes to the values of the Global Battery Alliance of the World Economic Forum. The alliance consisting of public and private-sector partners from along the entire battery supply chain strives to ensure that both social and environmental sustainability aspects are taken into account in the value chain for the raw material used in batteries. To this end, the Global Battery Alliance is working on issues such as the conditions for mining raw materials, sustainable recycling concepts in the spirit of a circular economy, and innovations that promote battery sustainability. Audi has been a member of the cooperation platform since 2017.

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative: Meanwhile Audi’s membership in the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) dates all the way back to 2013. The ASI came about as a result of various stakeholders in the aluminum industry joining forces. The aim behind the initiative was to create greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminum sector and to promote the responsible extraction, processing and use of aluminum. Audi was the first automotive OEM in the world to attain an ASI Performance Certification and ASI Chain of Custody Certification. In 2017, the company launched the “Aluminum Closed Loop” at its Neckarsulm site, with the press shop in Ingolstadt following suit in 2020. The Audi site in Győr introduced this process in 2021.

Diversity Charter: Since 2019, Audi has been one of currently 39 members of the Diversity Charter and, since 2018, has been involved as a PROUT EMPLOYER with the topic of queer in the workplace. As part of these initiatives, Audi actively advocates for diversity and inclusion in the workplace for the well-being of its own employees and in the spirit of a diverse society beyond the gates of its plants.

UN Global Compact: In March 2022, after an interruption, Audi rejoined the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest initiative for sustainable corporate governance. This membership in one of the most active platforms for dialogue among industry, civil society and politics is an important pillar of Audi Stakeholder management.

The following list of memberships and activities exemplifies the company’s dialogue with industry, politics, science and society. However, it contains only a small sample of the wide range of initiatives we are involved in – many of which also reflect the interests of the company’s stakeholders. The list is structured on the basis of the five chapters of the Audi Report 2022 to illustrate the connections to the topics reported on: