Audi Achieve Robust Sales In 2017; To Launch 20 Models In 2018

The Audi Group announced that the company has increased its revenue and earnings under difficult conditions in 2017 as the revenue surpassed the mark of €60 billion, which is more than double of what they did over the last eight years. With an operating profit of €5.1 billion before special items, the corresponding operating return on sales of 8.4 per cent is within the target corridor. Putting the Volkswagen dieselgate behind them now, Audi recognized additional provisions of €387 million in 2017. After these special items, operating profit amounted to €4.7 billion and the operating return on sales was 7.8 per cent. Moreover, the company will launch more new models than ever before and will enter the age of electric mobility this year.

(Audi has seen a growth of 8.4 per cent in sales from the previous year)

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Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG said, "In 2017, we demonstrated entrepreneurial strength and above all formulated a determined master plan for the coming years. We intend to play a leading role in the tremendous upheaval facing our industry. By 2022 alone, we have planned more than €40 billion for development activities and investment. We are making Audi fit for this mission with our Action and Transformation Plan."

(Revenue has increased from the same period last year)

For Audi's Action and Transformation Plan, the German car-makers will invest close to €10 billion by 2022 to accelerate future models. According to Alexander Seitz, Member of the Board of Management for Finance, IT and Integrity said that Audi has implemented measures to work on four new models and derivatives with an unchanged budget.

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Seitz said, "We are implementing our program of measures quickly and systematically, we are becoming more efficient and we are investing freed-up resources in new, profitable growth. This has already allowed us to decide four additional new models and derivatives with an unchanged budget. With this plan, Audi has increased its budget for further training by a third to a total of more than €0.5 billion by 2025."

Audi has also significantly broadened its electrification roadmap across the entire model portfolio. For the electric mobility of tomorrow, the brand is collaborating closely with Porsche and Volkswagen. Already in 2025, Audi will offer more than 20 electrified models that will account for one third of unit sales. As a sporty spearhead, the premium manufacturer announced at its annual press conference a highly dynamic, four-door Gran Turismo with purely electric drive. Production will start early in the coming decade at the Bollinger Hofe site near Neckarsulm.

(Production will start early in the coming decade at the Bollinger Hofe site near Neckarsulm)

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"We interpret sportiness very progressively with our fully electric e-tron GT, and this is how we will take our high-performance brand Audi Sport into the future," says Stadler.

Audi will also present new products in six of its core model series and successively start their production. Late this year, the company's first fully electric series- produced model will be launched- the Audi e-tron. This SUV allows fast-charging at up to 150 kW, making it ready for long-distance use again in less than half an hour. The e-tron will be produced completely CO2-neutral at the converted Brussels plant where also the model's batteries will be assembled. Audi Hungaria is ready to start production of the SUV's electric motor in Gyor, Hungary.