Nun hat auch Audi eine Erhöhung der Investitionen in Elektromobilität und Digitalisierung bekannt gegeben.
From 2021 to 2025 Audi AG plans spending on research and development and on investments in fixed assets of about €35 billion ($42.35 billion). Almost €17 billion ($20.57 billion) is allocated by the premium manufacturer to vehicle projects and innovative vehicle technologies alone, in order to newly energise the brand promise of “Vorsprung durch Technik”.
The total sum of development costs takes account of comprehensive synergies in the Group. For example, the development and implementation of the electric platforms takes place across the brands. Here Audi is developing together with Porsche the premium platform electric (PPE); at the same time, Audi uses the Group technology of the modular electrification platform (MEB).
On the basis of the investment planning, upfront expenditure in the years 2021 to 2025 focuses on the uncompromising implementation of Roadmap E, with a large-scale product offensive for fully and partly electric models. For electrification alone, a sum of approximately €15 billion ($18.15 billion) – more than 40% of the total expenditure – is foreseen in the context of the planning round. Specifically, some €10 billion ($12.1 billion) is to be devoted to electromobility and €5 billion ($6.05 billion) to hybridisation. By 2025 Audi AG will expand its e-portfolio to about 30 models, of which approximately 20 will be powered entirely by electric batteries.
In digitalisation, too, Audi benefits from cooperation in the Group, and will now exploit this competitive advantage even more efficiently. In software development, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann is now taking over as chairman at the Car.Software-Organization, which combines and extends the knowhow of the brands.
In this way the Group’s own software unit is creating a unified operating system with basic functions for all vehicles of the Group. The tasks of the Car.Software-Organization also include further development of functions for automated driving.
