Audi confirms that the Q2 will go ahead and a revised Q5 is in the process of being finalised.

• Capital expenditure of more than € 3 billion in 2016 
• Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: “Continuing with high levels of investment in future technologies to enhance strong position” 
• Axel Strotbek, Board of Management Member for Finance and Organization: “Gaining financial scope through further cost optimization” 
• Audi Board of Management Member for Human Resources Thomas Sigi: “Looking for experts in areas important for the future” 

Audi will lay the foundations for future growth in 2016. In the coming financial year, the company plans to continue with its high levels of investment. Along with further process and cost optimization, the planned capital expenditure is to amount to more than € 3 billion, and will support the Ingolstadt-based company along its successful path. 

Half of the planned investment will take place at the German sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Furthermore, Audi will recruit additional experts in the field of future technologies once again in 2016.

The company intends to push forward with its growth strategy with the approved investment program in 2016: “We are continuing with our high levels of investment in future technologies to enhance the strong position of our brand,” emphasized Audi CEO Rupert Stadler

The pictures below are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered

to be the actual car that may or may not be due for release in the future.

The car producer also plans to enter a new market segment with the Audi Q2 model next year.

In addition, Audi will present the successor of the Audi Q5 next year, thus continuing with the next chapter of its SUV success story. “A significant proportion of our investment is naturally in the field of alternative drive systems,” stated Stadler. In 2018, the first large‑series battery‑electric vehicle of the brand with the Four Rings will be launched, based on the Audi e-tron Quattro concept. By 2020, Audi will expand its model range to include 60 different automobiles.

While Audi is consciously investing in new models and technologies, as well as in the expansion of its worldwide production network, CFO Axel Strotbek also sees potential for continual cost improvements: “With the current investment program, we obviously want to enhance the brand’s strong position, but at the same time, we aim to achieve additional financial scope by means of further process and cost optimization.” According to Strotbek, the company will not save at the expense of its future, but every investment will be carefully examined. The Board of Management has therefore decided to postpone the construction of a new wind tunnel for one year.

Audi continues to accelerate in the area of digitalization. In early December, the company acquired a one‑third interest in HERE, thus safeguarding the cooperation with a leading provider of digital maps and location-based services. Audi’s share of the purchase price amounts to € 0.85 billion. In order to maintain its “Vorsprung durch Technik” also in the future, the company will strengthen its workforce as it progresses along its growth path in 2016. Thomas Sigi, Board of Management Member for Human Resources at AUDI AG, stated: “We are looking for experts in areas important for the future.” Demand is particularly strong for specialists in alternative drive systems and lightweight construction, but also for IT specialists, who will further develop the fields of Audi connect, Audi mobility and smart factory in the context of digitalization. 

VW Group's, Audi has suspended 2 engineers after its larger diesel engines were found to have evaded emissions limits

Volkswagen Group's luxury unit Audi has suspended two engineers after its larger diesel engines were found to have evaded emissions limits in the U.S., Rupert Stadler, Audi’s CEO, was quoted as saying in a newspaper report on Thursday.

Volkswagen and Audi notified U.S. authorities last Thursday that about 85,000 vehicles with 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines were fitted with emissions-control equipment that was not disclosed to U.S. regulators.

The news widened a scandal at parent VW Group which has led to the ouster of its long-time CEO Martin Winterkorn and wiped more than 20 billion euros ($21 billion) off the group's market value.

Audi now is investigating whether employees in technical development and other departments deliberately manipulated emission-control devices and has suspended two engineers, Stadler said in an interview with the Donaukurierregional newspaper, without giving any further details.

The V-6 diesel engine was designed and assembled by Audi at its factory in Neckarsulm, Germany, and widely used in premium models sold by the group's VW, Audi and Porsche brands in model years 2009 through 2016, Audi said on Monday.

The Audi suspensions take the number of officials confirmed to have been put on leave across the group as a result of its internal investigations to eight, including at least six senior executives.

VW is facing an emissions scandal on three fronts: the cheating software installed in about 11 million smaller diesel vehicles worldwide; irregular carbon-dioxide ratings on about 800,000 vehicles; and the probe into 85,000 larger diesel engines in the U.S.

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Audi gives the go ahead to a range topping Q8 SUV/Crossover.

Audi plans to roll out a range-topping SUV called the Q8 that will go on sale before the end of the decade, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Bloomberg.

The coments follow those Stadler made in May, when the executive said Audi was mulling whether to build a Q8 model above the Q7, Audi’s current flagship SUV.

His comments followed BMW’s announcement that it planned to build a new X7 in response to customer demand for an SUV/crossover with three rows of seats.

THE BELOW ARE POSSIBLE LOOKS FOR THE CAR AS NO MULE HAS, AS YET BEEN SPOTTED OUT IN THE WILD - SO PLEASE TAKE THESE AS POSSIBILITIES AND NOT REALITY, THEY ARE ALL EASILY FINDABLE ON GOOGLE SEARCH

Audi’s new SUV would be aimed at markets such as the U.S., China and the Middle East, where large coupe-styled SUVs are in demand.

Audi is "working heavily on this project," said Stadler, who last week at the Detroit auto show unveiled a revamped version of the Q7.

A bigger model "would strengthen the brand. I'm convinced we need the car by 2020," Stadler said.

Audi investment

The new model would be part of Audi's plans to spend 24 billion euros ($27.8 billion) on technology and production in the next five years. Most of the money will go to increase its lineup to 60 cars from 50. That includes the subcompact Q1 crossover due in 2016. When the Q1 arrives Audi's SUV will grow to four models. The others are the compact Q3 compact, midsize Q5 and large Q7.

Audi wants to unseat the BMW brand as the world's largest maker of premium cars by 2020. In 2014 Audi was second to BMW and Mercedes-Benz ranked third.

An expanded SUV offering could help Audi gain ground in the U.S., where it only sells about half as many cars as its two German competitors.

Even so, Audi will face even more competition by the time the new upscale SUV hits showrooms. In addition to BMW adding the X7, Mercedes plans to add its own flagship SUV. Jaguar will also start selling its first crossover, the midsize F-Pace, in 2016.

Despite more models vying for buyers, Audi is upbeat on its prospects in the U.S., where SUVs have continued to gain in popularity and there's space for luxury brands to grow. In the coming years, high-end autos could account for as much as 13 percent of the U.S. market, up from about 10 percent now, Stadler said.

And after outselling its rivals in other major markets, the brand believes it can repeat that feat in the U.S. "We did it in China, we did in Europe. Why shouldn't it happen in the U.S. at some point?" Stadler said.

REPORT HERE