Neuburg an der Donau
From A to Q: the tech experience for all customer segments
Driving fun, safety and the highest quality: The demands of the broad Audi clientele are high, from the luxury segment down to the entry-level model. That’s why Audi uses R&D results and innovations for all customer segments. You can see this during a fast-paced test drive in the Audi Q8 and Audi A1. And action!
Mobility at Audi is becoming multifaceted: One-third of the company’s vehicles will be electric in 2025, and two-thirds will still be powered by internal combustion engines. To remain financially strong, Audi will continue to rely in coming years on models equipped with continuously refined conventional drive systems.
These cars will delight Audi customers with state-of-the-art technologies. Innovations that are initially introduced in higher segments gradually work their way down to other models as well. As a result, all Audi customers can enjoy premium standards and experience technical expertise in models from very different price segments.
Absolute driving fun
It is unbelievable just how much high tech you can fit into an A1! “Vorsprung durch Technik” is not just a slogan for the full-size class. An A1 without a smartphone connection to the high-resolution MMI and without rich sound? Hard for the young target group to imagine. The compact car is turned into a concert hall. Quality is large as life here – for young ears, too. Thanks to the optional Bang & Olufsen speakers. The system controls 11 loudspeakers with 560 watts of power and uses the windshield as a reflecting surface to produce a 3D effect.
Driving fun live: Jonas Schmid and Magdalena Seidenschwarz test the cornering of the Audi A1 and Q8.
The memory remains: Audi MyMemories app
Potential for a new business model? With the help of the Audi MyMemories app, Audi drivers can take the premium feeling of their Audi driving experience home with them to relive the moments over and over or to share them on social media. The Audi Innovation Research Office in San Francisco developed the app together with the California startup Revl after customer surveys in the United States found that target groups wanted videos of their driving experience.
Safety that puts you at ease
Whether you are driving in the town or long distances, assistance systems support the driver and increase convenience. One example of technology transfer from the full-size class is adaptive cruise control. It brings the car to a halt in stop-and-go traffic and then automatically starts it again. The system is optionally available not only in the Q8, but in the A1 as well. During test drives, the lane departure warning system and the pre sense front system in both models can provide support in traffic – and are fitted as standard. Another feature of the Q8 is the optional narrowed road assist, which provides longitudinal and lateral guidance when a vehicle drives through construction sites on the freeway.
Assistance systems ensure safety: Armin Muck, Max Brunner and Renate Seiler get a vibrant feel for the road on the curve-filled test track.
Convincing quality
Brilliantly sharp, high-contrast and glare-free, the display presents all its functions and services in a vivid graphic, from the detailed effects of the assistance systems to images from the reversing camera and dynamic vehicle animations. If you switch to the infotainment mode, you gain plenty of space in a central window for a navigation map or audio, radio and telephone lists. And not to be forgotten: The A1 also comes with a digital cockpit as standard equipment.
The touch display invites you to try it out: Daniel Marr and Awa Jaiteh on their test drive.
“Vorsprung durch Technik”: the Audi model initiative
- Audi is creating a new premium experience - in the product as well as in its digital ecosystem myAudi. In this way, young customers develop enthusiasm for the brand and a relationship with it at an early stage.
- Audi continues its model offensive: Following the presentation of the new full-size class in 2018 with models such as the A6, A7 Sportback and Q8 as well as the Audi e-tron, the first volume-built model with fully electric drive, the electrified portfolio will be expanded in 2019. The company therefore presented four new plug-in hybrid models at the first “all-electric press conference” at the Geneva Motor Show: Q5 TFSIe, A6 L TFSIe, A7 Sportback TFSIe and the A8 L TFSIe.
- In 2025, around every third Audi will be sold with an electric motor or plug-in hybrid drive. The remaining two-thirds will continue to be defined by optimized internal combustion models that will safeguard the company’s financial base. The entire range of models is required here – from the lower to the upper price segments.
- By the end of 2023, Audi will have invested about 14 billion euros in digital, electric and autonomous mobility. At the same time, the Audi Group wants to achieve a long-term, strategic operating return on sales of 9 to 11 percent. Using measures such as process optimization and tapping synergies in the Volkswagen Group as part of the Audi Transformation Plan, the company will free up around 15 billion euros for future-oriented investments over the next five years.
