Audi has announced plans to accelerate its realignment with a significant spend earmarked for electric mobility, digitisation and autonomous driving projects.
By 2023 Audi Group plans to have invested approximately €14 billion (about $22 billion Aussie bucks) in electric mobility, digitalisation and autonomous driving which includes investments in property, plant and equipment as well as research and development expenditure. This should take the overall spend over the next five years to a whopping €40 billion (about $63 billion Australian dollars).
Bram Schot, temporary Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG commented on the move saying, "This planning round bears a clear signature: We are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be much more focused in future. We are consistently prioritising our resources for future-oriented products and services that are highly attractive and relevant to the market.”
"With models such as the recently presented Audi e-tron GT concept, we want to electrify people again for Audi and at the same time be an agile and very efficient company."
Following the launch of the first all-electric SUV, the e-tron, approximately 20 electrified models, with at least half being purely electric drive systems, are set to follow by 2025.
Simultaneously digitalisation of vehicles and plants will also be taking place with new digital services such as functions on demand set to be offered.
Audi has already been working with Porsche to develop the premium architecture electrification (PPE) for large electric vehicles as well as the modular electric drive kit (MEB) with Volkswagen.
To offset the costs involved in the plan Audi is systematically rolling out its successful Audi Transformation Plan which will generate positive earnings effects of more than €1 billion in 2018.
In addition to transferring resources to areas of the future, the Audi Transformation Plan is primarily aimed at reducing complexity, systematically utilising synergies, and identifying and discontinuing activities that are no longer relevant to customers.
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