At the 124th Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of AUDI AG in Neckarsulm, Board of Management Chairman (CEO) Rupert Stadler stated: “We are now in a crucial phase, because we are positioning Audi for the next surge of growth.” By 2015, Audi will implement the biggest investment program in the company’s history, with a total volume of approximately €11 billion. Nearly half of that amount, €5.3 billion, will be applied to strengthen and expand the German plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

Before some 600 guests in Neckarsulm today, the Audi Board of Management explained to the shareholders all of the key financial metrics of the past financial year. Despite the difficult situation of the world economy, Board of Management Chairman Stadler also affirmed the Group’s goal for 2013: “We intend to continue our growth this year and we are sure that we will do so.”

The number of cars delivered from January through April is on the right track. Since the beginning of the year, a total of approximately 503,000 customers have decided in favor of an Audi – an increase of 6.7 percent. In other words, the Audi has for the first time passed the 500,000 mark after just four months. Especially the new A3 family and the SUV models Q3, Q5 and Q7 provided additional impetus here.

For the full year, Audi plans to increase its unit sales once again compared with record year 2012. As a result of the increased sales volume, the Audi Group also anticipates slight revenue growth. Despite higher expenditure for new products and the expansion of the worldwide production network, Board of Management Member for Finance Axel Strotbek emphasized the return target during the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting: “We should achieve an operating return on sales at the top end of our target corridor of eight to ten percent.”

Audi intends to continue its success story at full speed. This is to be assisted by the new Audi models A3 and A3 Sportback as well as the Q3. Growth will be additionally stimulated by the new A3 Sedan, which will roll off the assembly lines in Győr, Hungary, in June.

Audi is taking an important step with the expansion of the Győr facility into a fully fledged car plant and the production start of the A3 Sedan. The company is consistently positioning its production network for the upcoming growth. The next milestone is to be achieved in Foshan in southern China in late 2013. Together with its joint-venture partner FAW, Audi is investing in a new plant there. At the same time, construction work is starting in Mexico. As of mid-2016, Audi will produce the Q5 model in San José Chiapa.

In order to meet all of its targets, Audi places high priority on having highly qualified employees. For the year 2013, AUDI AG plans to recruit 1,500 new employees in Germany alone. Furthermore, approximately 700 young people will begin their occupational training at Audi.

During the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, AUDI AG also presented its Corporate Responsibility Report 2012 to the shareholders. In this report, the company reports on its objectives and activities in the field of sustainability. Audi wants to lead the way not only economically, but also ecologically and socially. The entire Group assumes responsibility in the five core areas of business, products, environment, workforce and society.

“We will shape individual mobility and our company so that they meet the stringent requirements of sustainability,” emphasized Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. Sustainability in processes and products are therefore firmly established as a fundamental objective at Audi. “We are convinced that we will only achieve sustained success as a result of responsible actions,” stated Dr. Peter F. Tropschuh, Head of Corporate Responsibility.

The Corporate Responsibility Report provides details of the specific targets, activities and key figures in accordance with the international standards of the Global Reporting Initiative. The premium brand prepared its corporate responsibility program following an exchange of opinions with interest groups and employees. This fact is clearly reflected in the sustainability report: An introduction from stakeholders precedes the individual chapters, which deal with the topics of product, environment, employees, society and operations.

Product
The focus of Audi’s commitment to corporate responsibility is in its core business: For example, the motto of “Vorsprung durch Technik” applies above all to the sustainability of the products. Audi has a long-term goal of achieving CO2-neutral mobility. The overriding objective in the field of product development is to steadily reduce CO2 emissions. Each new model should have significantly lower fuel consumption than its predecessor and thus also lower CO2 emissions. Already today, Audi supplies 112 model versions with CO2 emissions of less than 140 grams per kilometer and 41 models with less than 120 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The company places priority on taking a holistic approach: Audi analyzes the environmental impact of its products over their entire lifecycle – from the production of raw materials to manufacturing to driving to recycling. With certification of environmental impact, Audi will demonstrate for each new model series the improvements in this respect compared with their predecessors. The fuel supply chain is also relevant for a holistic analysis: Audi is performing pioneering work on the development of regenerative, climate-neutral fuels. The premium brand is currently putting the world’s first industrial-scale power-to-gas plant into operation in Werlte in Germany’s Emsland region. At this plant, Audi will use CO2 and regenerative electricity to produce e-gas, preferably from surplus wind energy. This synthetic methane can be fed directly into the natural gas network and supplied through natural-gas filling stations, to fuel the new Audi A3 Sportback g-tron for example. Driving with Audi e-gas is close to being climate neutral: The CO2, released on driving was previously taken out of the atmosphere in the production of the e-gas.

Environment
The holistic approach also includes ambitious targets in the field of Group-wide environmental protection: Step-by-step, the manufacturing process should become CO2-neutral and free of waste water. At the sites in Germany, Audi already achieved a target in 2012 that was planned for 2020: the reduction by 30 percent of carbon-dioxide emissions per car produced compared with 1990. The target now is to reduce emissions by a further 40 percent by 2020 compared with 2010. Audi’s production at its main site in Ingolstadt is already 70 percent CO2-neutral. 100 percent of the electricity used by Audi has been from regenerative sources since the beginning of 2012, which is a significant milestone on the way to CO2-neutral production: CO2 emissions in Ingolstadt are decreasing by up to 290,000 tons each year. Electricity from regenerative sources is used throughout the plant and not only for the production of certain models. Environmental protection has a long tradition at Audi: In 1995, Audi was the first premium brand to receive the EMAS certificate of the European Union for outstanding environmental protection.

Employees
Responsibility vis-à-vis employees has been firmly established in Audi’s corporate culture for a long time. That includes individual development perspectives as well as an attractive working environment. In 2012, the company’s management and labor council agreed on an employment guarantee for the entire Audi workforce until the end of 2018 – an important milestone for job security. To facilitate the optimal combination of career and family life, flexible working-time models are possible at Audi, such as part-time work, telework and sabbaticals. At the end of 2012, more than 2,400 employees were working part time, which is possible even for employees working shifts. The offer of flexible childcare at the miedelHaus in Ingolstadt is unique, and allows Audi employees to react at short notice to special situations such as business trips or holidays of other childcare facilities. In addition, Audi encourages the lifelong training and further training of its employees, promotes diversity and equal opportunities, and provides exemplary conditions for health and safety at work, such as the Audi preventative health check-up for example.

Society
As a successful company, Audi wants to give something back to society and to enhance the quality of life at its sites. For this reason, employees, management and labor council initiate numerous donation campaigns; in addition, many employees are involved in social projects through the “Audi a Matter of Honor” program. Audi also supports educational institutions and has cooperated for ten years with several universities, through the Audi doctoral student program for example. In sponsoring the arts and culture, the company ensures that the activities sponsored can be accessed and experienced by all. Looking to the future is also an element of social responsibility at Audi: The Audi Urban Future Initiative promotes an open dialog between experts of various subjects and cultures. The goal is to develop mobility solutions for the inhabitants of the megacities of tomorrow.

Operations
Through its value-based and forward-looking management, the Audi Group not only secures its long-term competitiveness, but also fulfills the various claims of its stakeholders. In this context, the company’s management has the strategic goal of qualitative growth. Group-wide risk and compliance management systems protect the corporate objectives against risks as far as possible. Audi also requires that its suppliers adhere strictly to the sustainability principles of the Volkswagen Group and the environmental and social standards described in those principles.

The full Audi Corporate Responsibility Report 2012 is accessible online in German and English at www.audi.com/cr-report2012. The printed version is also available in German and English and can be ordered online.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

my Board of Management colleagues and I would like to welcome you to the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of AUDI AG at our site here in Neckarsulm with its long and prestigious tradition. More than 14,700 employees here produce premium and luxury automobiles. The following Audi models roll off the assembly lines every day:

• A4 Sedan
• A5 and S5 Cabriolet
• A6 Sedan, Avant, allroad and S6
• A7 and S7 Sportback
• A8, A8L and S8
• and the hybrid versions of the A6 and A8.

Neckarsulm is also the headquarters of quattro GmbH, our sporty subsidiary. At present, we supply the following top models:

• Audi R8, R8 Plus,

and both of them as open roadster versions under the Spyder name,

• RS 5 Cabriolet,
• RS 6 Avant
• and RS 7.

On February 25 this year, we delivered the five-millionth Audi with the quattro drive system. quattro – our technology of permanent all-wheel drive is an icon for Vorsprung durch Technik. Out of our 179 different motor control gears, we currently offer a variety of 140 quattro systems. To make sure that such ideas arise that can also be implemented, we closely mesh our production and development engineering. In Neckarsulm for example, we have a lightweight construction center, a pre-series center, the development of diesel engines for motorsport and road cars and the design of our convertible roofs.

And in October last year, we inaugurated our new Engine Test Center. With 57 test benches, it is the world’s largest and most innovative facility to test engines. In brief: There’s a lot here for visitors to discover. That’s why the Audi Forum Neckarsulm is a big attraction both in the region and beyond. Since this wonderful building was opened in May 2005, 1.4 million visitors have picked up their new automobiles, participated in plant tours or visited one of the various events in the Audi Forum.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

when we look back at the year 2012, it can be summarized quite well with these headlines concerning Audi:

• “Audi Q3 is the Germans’ favorite car”
• “Audi A3 wins the Golden Steering Wheel”
• “Triumph for Audi hybrid at Le Mans”
• “Audi to build a plant in Mexico”
• And: “Audi acquires Ducati”

We continued our success story in the year 2012. We set the course for the future with some strategically important decisions. “We” – that is the fascinating brands Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati – as well as Italdesign Giugiaro, our competence center for design and engineering. And Audi includes numerous other subsidiaries as well.

Here, we are taking stock – and the bottom line says: We were extremely successful in 2012.

Last year, we delivered more than 1,455,000 automobiles of the Audi brand: about 152,000 more than in 2011. In other words: Every 22 seconds, we hand over a new Audi to a customer in one of more than 100 markets worldwide. Today, we sell nearly twice as many cars as ten years ago.

At the beginning of 2012 – similar to this year – economic indicators were by no means pointing towards growth everywhere. Especially not in Europe, which is still our most important market, with budget problems in many countries, resulting in the need for public savings and reform programs, high unemployment among young people, as well as uncertain consumers and entrepreneurs. All of this dampened economic growth and demand. In the euro zone, it actually contracted.

That is why I am particularly pleased with the number of cars we shipped last year.

• Firstly, Audi grew in all regions of the year in 2012 – also in Europe.
• Secondly, we achieved new best figures in all of those regions.
• And thirdly, compared with the overall market, we grew at an above-average rate.

Two regions were especially dynamic for us:

• North America, with an increase of nearly 19 percent
• and Asia/Pacific,with a good 28 percent plus.

We grew in Europe as well, against the general market trend, in fact. We had to swim against the current and made good progress nonetheless. In absolute terms, our home continent is still our most important sales region. We delivered 739,000 automobiles in Europe – a good 30 percent more than ten years ago. In comparison: The total market in Europe has not actually grown in that time – but we have expanded by more than one third. At the same time, we know that 2013 is a difficult year.

Let’s take a closer look at the market situation in Europe. Spain has reached its lowest market volume since 1986. Demand in Italy is at the level of 1979, which means that its automobile market has been thrown back by more than 33 years.

It is true that Audi has a better-than-average performance there too, but the negative market development has not left us untouched either. We achieved our European growth elsewhere.

In the United Kingdom for example: Audi achieved a new sales record of more than 123,000 units and an increase of seven percent compared with 2011. At one time, we were the number three in the premium segment there, and now we are battling neck-and-neck for first place.

In Russia for example, 44 percent growth is the strongest of all our top-ten markets. We have doubled our sales volume to about 33,500 units in just three years. And Russia is also a market with good prospects for the future. That’s clear from the numbers since the beginning of this year. Since January 2013, we have achieved growth in shipments of 14 percent.

And as a last example, in Germany, we achieved a new sales record of 263,000 units. That means for the first time, we were the premium brand number one in the car business in our domestic market – on the home turf of the big three premium brands. And this year, we have so far maintained the level of last year.

Let’s look across the Atlantic: We profited to an above-average degree from the dynamism of the US market. A remarkable fact is that since January 2011, each single month – 28 months in a row that is – was a record for Audi in the United States. It is also pleasing that not only the quantity of business is increasing, but also the quality. In 2010, roughly every fifth Audi sold in the United States was a model from the upper premium segment. Today, every third Audi sold there is an A6, A7, A8 or Q7.

Three facts on China: We once again significantly extended our lead over the competition in 2012. Audi gained more new Chinese customers than ever before within one year. We were the first premium supplier to pass the magic mark of 400,000 deliveries in one year. In comparison: We achieved that number in 1995 worldwide; today in China alone. At the end of 2010, we delivered the one-millionth Audi in China. It took us more than 20 years to do that. We then announced that we would reach the second million within three more years. We will in fact get there about the middle of this year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

that brings us from the markets to the models, the drivers of this growth. The Q-model family has long since established itself as the second cornerstone of our unit sales. Every fourth Audi is already an SUV. More than 200,000 units sold last year make the Audi Q5 the global market leader in its segment once again. And it has held this position without any interruptions since 2009. For its little brother, the Q3, 2012 was the first full year on the market, and with a successful performance: Nearly 80,000 units were delivered in Europe alone. This year, we will launch the Q3 in additional markets, and have started local production in China.

Our deliveries in the full-size segment also continued to increase at an above-average rate. The proportion of models in the prestigious C and D segments has continued to grow in recent years. And since last year, our new S-models – S6, S7 and S8 – have also been available. They give the model series even more emotion and sportiness. At the same time, we have made further substantial efficiency progress compared with those models’ predecessors: for example the Audi S8 with an unparalleled decrease in fuel consumption of about one quarter. We achieve these efficiency advantages with technologies like our cylinder-on-demand system.

In addition to the S models, we expanded the full-size segment, with the A8 hybrid version. This model follows the Audi Q5 hybrid quattro and the A6 hybrid, which have been available since 2011. Audi therefore has a bigger fleet of full hybrids than all its competitors.

Every single model that we launched in 2012 sets standards. Also in the segment of compact cars. I would like to emphasize one of them: the new Audi A3. For us, without a doubt the most important new model of the year 2012. Since the first generation, which was launched in the mid-1990s, the Audi A3 has been a driver of our growth:

Around the middle of this year, we will hand over the three-millionth A3 to customer. Our customers loved the new generation right from the start, and the press was also convinced. That’s one of the reasons why we won the Golden Steering Wheel in 2012, the most important prize awarded by the European automobile press.

The Audi A3 is a demonstration of important technology of the future. Here are three examples: Keyword lightweight construction: 80 kilograms weight saved – that’s remarkable with a compact car.

• Keyword connectivity: Via integrated Facebook you can find out where
  your friends are located and plan the route straight to them. And you can access current train or flight information. That’s just a small selection of the many possibilities that the new A3 offers.
• Keyword efficiency: With its 1.6 liter TDI engine, the new A3 has CO2 emissions of just 99 grams per kilometer.

And in early March, we presented two more models at the Geneva Motor Show.

The A3 g-tron with bivalent gasoline/natural-gas drive and emissions of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer in natural-gas operation. A customer using Audi e-gas, is actually driving the A3 g-tron CO2-neutral.

The second new model presented was the Audi A3 e-tron. This plug-in hybrid manages 35 grams per kilometer. Apropos e-tron. We impressively demonstrated the strengths, of this Audi-technology on the racetrack in 2012. With  the victory of the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and with the world record of the R8 e-tron on the Nürburgring. We gained a lot of experience from the work on this record-holder and our A1 e-tron fleet, especially with regard to high-performance electronics and thermal management. This knowledge is now being transferred into the model series. So for us, the models mentioned are the pacemakers on the way to series-produced electric cars.

In the review of 2012, I would now like to talk about another new arrival. Since July 2012, Ducati has belonged to the Audi Group. The latest member of our family is fascinating, sporty, fast- and after five decades, we have reawakened our company’s motorcycle genes. With the brands DKW and NSU, we were once the biggest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.

In the past ten months, Ducati has gained us a lot of new friends. And this brand’s fan base is growing not only with us. With more than 44,000 motorcycles, Ducati set a new record for deliveries in 2012. That’s approximately four percent more than in 2011. Ducati is in demand all over the world, with continuous growth in Western Europe, Asia and North America.

The biggest individual market was the United States with more than 9,300 motorcycles sold – twice as many as in 2003. Why do I mention that? Because the relevant overall market has contracted by more than half in the same period. So Ducati successfully utilized one of the most difficult times in the American motorcycle business as an opportunity.

This is in line with a spirit that connects the two brands – Audi and Ducati – and the people behind them, in the same way as the fascination for emotive products and pioneering technology. Three examples: Last autumn, Ducati presented the Hypermotard. Deliveries to customers will begin this year, along with the Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak in its new look and feel, and the new 1199 Panigale R, the top version of the sports motorcycle from Bologna.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

25 minutes by car from Ducati is the Lamborghini headquarters. Our colleagues there also look back on a successful year 2012. The key figure is deliveries of 2,083 super sports cars, 30 percent more than in 2011. The Lamborghini Aventador was the driver of that growth. 2012 was its first full year on the market. This year, we will follow up with the launch of the Aventador Roadster. Customer interest is enormous. Production is already covered by orders into the second quarter of 2014. Excellent conditions for a successful jubilee year: Because Lamborghini celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2013. Last week, we were in Sant’Agata Bolognese for the official ceremony.

Let’s have a brief look at how the past year is reflected in the Audi Group’s key financial metrics.

We increased our revenue in 2012 by about 10.6 percent to the new record level of 48.8 billion euros. We even surpassed the record operating profit of the prior year once again, with earnings of 5.4 billion euros. This is extremely positive, especially against the backdrop of the difficult economic situation.

As I already stated at our annual press conference: There are years in our industry in which one reaps, and there are years in which one sows. Our top priority for this year is to invest in future technologies and to expand our capacities. Over the next years, we are preparing for the next major growth step towards two million automobiles. CFO Axel Strotbek will give you some more financial details in a few minutes.

But before that, let us look at the people who have worked hard and passionately to achieve these results. At the end of 2012, 68,804 people worked at the Audi Group. Worldwide, we took about 5,800 new employees on board. Ducati is included in that figure. But we also strengthened our workforce by means of targeted new recruitment.

In Germany alone, we recruited close to 3,000 people, including about 1,600 experts mainly in the fields of electric mobility and lightweight construction. Another 620 skilled workers were given full contracts of employment, most of whom had previously had temporary contracts. And nearly 750 young people started an apprenticeship or dual course of study in Ingolstadt or Neckarsulm. In Győr our new car plant will go online at the end of June. For that reason, we added more than 1,600 new employees there last year. At our site in Brussels, we recruited about 200. In other words, more people joined the Audi family in 2012 than ever before in one year.

Ladies and Gentlemen, each individual at our company has made a contribution so that we can report such positive figures to you today. Whoever contributes to success should also participate in it. That’s the reason for our Audi profit sharing.

This year, the employees of AUDI AG covered by collective wage agreements will receive an average of 8,030 euros each. In order to further strengthen the company pension, we will recognize an employer-financed addition to the retirement pension obligation of up to 1,000 euros out of the profit share. Our subsidiaries in Germany and abroad have their own arrangements for letting employees participate in their successful business operations.

Before I hand you over to Mr. Strotbek, it is important to me to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to all of our employees at all of our sites around the world. It makes one proud to work for Audi.

Ladies and gentlemen.

One thing is clear: In economic terms, 2013 will be more challenging than last year. The International Monetary Fund foresees negative growth of 0.3 percent for the euro zone this year. Worldwide, the IMF experts anticipate moderate growth of 3.3 percent in their latest forecasts. Car markets are slowing down as well. Global market expansion is expected to be significantly lower than the 7.2 percent of last year.

How will we at Audi deal with this uncertainty? We intend to continue our growth also in 2013, and we are sure that we will do so. Now, in May, we look back on an excellent start to the year: For the first time, we have passed the magic mark of half a million cars delivered after four months. So we have grown by 6.7 percent compared with the prior-year period. The impetus for this development was provided by the sales regions of Asia and North America, where we are expanding at double-digit growth rates.

In China, Audi’s biggest sales market, we had delivered more than 14,000 cars to our customers by the end of April. That’s an increase of 14 percent compared with last year.

In the United States, we also set a new record at the beginning of this year. We shipped a total of 47,343 cars in that country in the first four months of this year, an increase of 15.5 percent. We are delighted to have made such a good start to the year in the USA.

In Europe, we have an extremely difficult market situation at present. Many countries have posted double-digit decreases in car sales. There have been slumps not only in countries such as Greece, Spain or Cyprus, but also in Finland for example.

The only European country with rising sales of cars is currently the United Kingdom.

In the British market, we picked up speed in the first four months of this year and achieved growth of 9.6 percent.

Positive for Audi: We are now performing against the trend in Europe. With more than 253,000 cars shipped from January through April for example, we maintained the prior-year level in our biggest sales region, and our development is much more stable than the overall market.

We are carefully observing current market developments.

Our answer in this phase: We have to strengthen our competitiveness.

Ladies and gentlemen, you know what our long-term goals are: annual deliveries of more than two million cars by 2020. We have set the number of 1.5 million by 2015 as an important interim target. On the way there, we achieved an increase of 360,000 units solely in the past two years. That means: Firstly, we will reach the mark of 1.5 million sooner than planned. And secondly, we are thus gaining additional entrepreneurial energy and financial strength for our growth curve. It is a crucial phase, because we are now positioning Audi for the next surge of growth. This is taking place at all levels of the company, with people and markets, products and production.

Somewhere in the world, a customer buys an Audi every 22 seconds. Our production facilities, logistics and distribution must keep up with that pace.

In a period of just three years, we will implement the biggest investment program in Audi’s history with a total volume of 11 billion euros. 5.3 billion euros – nearly half that is – will serve to strengthen and expand our sites in Germany.

In detail:

• Münchsmünster near Ingolstadt, where we are adding an aluminum die-casting facility, a press shop with transfer presses, and production lines for form-hardened body parts.
• Neuburg an der Donau, where we are constructing a driving experience center for our customers and where we will develop and build our motorsport cars.
• Neckarsulm, where we are investing in the Böllinger Höfe industrial park and strengthening the site’s production logistics for the long term. In addition, we will locate the production of our R8 models there.

At the same time, we are expanding our global production network:

• Since April, we have been assembling cars for the Russian market at the VW plant in Kaluga.
• In June, we will put our expanded plant in Győr, Hungary, into operation.
• And by the end of the year, we will complete a new plant in Foshan, southern China. This will allow us to create production capacities for more than 300,000 additional automobiles.

About two weeks ago, on May 4, we laid the foundation stone for our first plant in North America: in San José Chiapa in Mexico. This puts us closer to our customers in the United States, Canada and Latin America. From San José Chiapa, we will export duty-free to the United States and Europe. We will reduce our exchange-rate risks in the US-dollar area. We will invest more than €900 million and create production capacity for 150,000 cars per annum.

San José Chiapa is the thirteenth automobile production site in the Audi Group. When the first Q5 rolls off the production line in Mexico in mid-2016, for the first time in our history, we will be producing a car for the world market exclusively outside Europe.

In San José Chiapa, we will create approximately 3,800 jobs.For months now, we have witnessed enormous enthusiasm and motivation. More than 700 Audi employees from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm would like to be involved in the project on the spot in Mexico.

The stabilizing effect for Audi is not to be underestimated. In view of the market situation in Europe I have just described, that is becoming especially important: Only a global presence can offset regional fluctuations and strengthen our sites in Germany.

As of the beginning of May, 70,023 people work for the Audi Group; 50,652 of them in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. In 2013, we will expand our workforce in Germany to meet requirements. We plan on about 1,500 new hires and more than 700 additional apprentices this year. In the search for well-qualified employees, we have the advantage that we have won several prizes in the employer rankings of students and university graduates – recently once again in April as Germany’s most popular employer. We are delighted that in surveys, young engineers quote our groundbreaking technologies such as piloted driving or the networked automobile when asked why a job at Audi is especially attractive. We regard that as both recognition and further motivation.

Ladies and gentlemen, another thing is important to me in this context: The number of our worldwide sites may increase, but one standard stays the same: Made by Audi. That’s our promise for the same excellent manufacturing and product quality in every Audi – irrespective of where it is made.

How do we ensure that? For example, by means of an international training offensive. The idea of a dual course of study and training is turning into an export success at the Audi Group. We combine the proven theoretical training of local technical colleges with practical experience at an early stage in our apprentice workshops.

At Audi Hungaria, we have been doing so successfully for twelve years now. In addition, we opened our own training center there in 2011. And since last year, as well as dual vocational training in Hungary, we also have the dual study system according to the German model, which we initiated together with Győr-based Széchenyi University.

In Brussels, dual vocational training is just starting in a pilot phase. In April, we were voted the best employer in Belgium, which we are very pleased about.

In China, we are continuously extending our cooperation with the vocational training college in Changchun. Our goal is to have 650 young people completing their apprenticeships as auto mechanics and mechatronics technicians each year as of 2015. And in Mexico, we are already starting the dual training system. Construction of the building started this April. This is training made by Audi – worldwide.

One standard for our products, but one standard also for service in retailing. Please allow me to give you a brief overview of China in this matter: J.D. Power carries out a survey there each year on how satisfied buyers of new cars are with the brand’s service. Audi was ranked in first position for the third time running in 2012. At present, we are rapidly expanding our dealer network in China. On average, one new Audi dealership will open each week in China in 2013. By 2017, we want to increase the number of Audi dealerships to more than 500.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is our mission to fully comprehend and incorporate what our customers’ wishes are. The prime example in China is the long version of the Audi A6. It is specially focused on the needs of our Chinese customers. A brief summary of this car in figures: 130,000 units sold in 2012 alone, making the Audi A6 once again the best-selling premium automobile in the market. In “Best Cars 2013,” a readers’ award from the Chinese issue of “auto, motor, sport” magazine, the long version of the Audi A6 was the winner in two categories. In total, Audi took ten first places – more than any other manufacturer. Among other things, we were awarded the prize for the most environmentally friendly brand. This was partially due to our start-stop technology and kinetic energy recovery system, both of which are meanwhile standard on all Audi models produced in China. In addition, we were the first manufacturer to integrate lightweight components into models produced in China.

As a result, we achieve the weight-based targets of the Chinese government’s CO2 legislation more than any other premium brand. Since 2011, we have reduced the average fuel consumption of our locally produced models by more than 15 percent.

Speaking of local production: I have already mentioned the new plant in Foshan. We are also increasing our production capacities at the plant in Changchun. Added up, production capacity for 350,000 additional units will be installed in China in the next three years. Together with our joint-venture partner therefore, we are increasing our capacities to a total of 700,000 units each year. But production volumes are just one side of the story. If we want to continue growing, we have to continue anticipating what our customers of tomorrow would like to have on the product side. For this purpose, we opened our own center for research and development in Beijing with more than 300 engineers a few weeks ago.

From China to the US – let’s take a quick look to the American shores where our diesel concept is an important element of our growth strategy.  Our clean-diesel technology, along with sporty starting torque combined with long range and efficiency have truly convinced the Americans. We have the biggest range of clean-diesel automobiles of all premium manufacturers in the United States. Today for example, every third Q7 driver in the USA chooses a TDI. We will further expand our TDI range in the US market this year – with the A6, A7, A8 and also with the Q5. For this year, we have set ourselves the target of delivering the new record number of 150,000 automobiles. In the year 2020, we want to achieve more than 200,000 units.

Understanding customers doesn’t only mean understanding which product features they want, but also knowing how they decide on them. The fact is that more and more customers configure their own personal Audi. In other words: haute couture instead of off the peg. In Germany alone, our revenue from optional extras has increased above average in the past years.

Ladies and gentlemen, a market is not just a place; it also has the dimension of time. We accept the future challenge. In the Audi Urban Future Initiative, we are occupied with the city of the future. A fundamental question is how we will cope with space in cities becoming scarcer. In order to optimally use this limited space, the networking of cars, infrastructure and people will be increasingly important.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January, we presented a technology that is pioneering in its field, and has the potential to have a sustained impact on global life. This is not our assessment; it was printed in the MIT Technology Review, the magazine of the most famous technical university in the United States. It listed us as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. We are talking about piloted driving. With this technology, the car steers, applies the brakes and accelerates on its own; in stop-and-go rush-hour traffic for example. The driver can make efficient use of his time – to make phone calls or write e-mails for example.

In Nevada, we are the first and so far only car manufacturer worldwide to receive a license for tests of piloted driving on public roads. In the coming years, we are committed to establish the legal framework for actually bringing this technology to our customers.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are continuing the expansion of our model range in 2013 – and with some particularly emotive automobiles. In its 30th year, Audi Sport will launch four new RS models on the market. The evolution of the RS philosophy is impressively apparent in the new Audi RS 6 Avant. Despite significantly higher power output, it consumes 30 percent less fuel than its predecessor – partially due to the consistent application of lightweight construction and intelligent downsizing with cylinder-on-demand technology. All of the combustion chambers are only switched on when the engine’s full power is required. Otherwise, the car operates on four instead of eight cylinders.

We want to increase our unit sales of high-performance cars by one third in 2013 compared with 2012. So in 2013, we will have the biggest range of RS models of the past 30 years. And we will therefore spread availability of our RS models to international markets – China for example. The Audi RS 5 Coupe was our first RS model in China in 2012. It was followed by the RS 5 Cabriolet in April 2013. In addition, for the first time we are giving an SUV the RS badge. The Audi RS Q3 is the pioneer in the new segment of compact, high-performance SUVs. We have taken the same sporty approach with the TDI and TFSI versions of the Audi SQ5, which will also be delivered to customers as of this year.

We are successively expanding the new A3 family in 2013.

• The A3 Sportback has been at our dealerships in Europe since February 2013.
• The Audi S3 and S3 Sportback will follow from the summer on.
• We added a new family member with the A3 Sedan, which we unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show. This is an important derivative which will stimulate additional growth, especially in China and the United States.
• And there is one more version, the A3 g-tron, our compact model with bivalent gas/gasoline drive. The A3 g-tron can run on both gasoline and natural gas. It has a range of more than 1,300 kilometers per fill-up – an impressive demonstration of the everyday drivability of this system. When the driver fills tank of the A3 g-tron with Audi e-gas, we cover the entire spectrum from wind turbine to steering wheel. Because our e-gas project is based on wind power from the Emsland region of Germany. We have just completed the world’s biggest power-to-gas plant in Werlte in the north of Germany. Not because we want to become an energy supplier any time soon; it’s more a matter of demonstrating feasibility. The starting point is surplus electricity from the wind park, which is used to produce hydrogen. We then convert hydrogen and CO2 from a biogas plant nearby into synthetic Audi e-gas. We deliver e-gas to customers through the public gas network. That is, we use the existing infrastructure.

In this way, e-gas is used as a practical form of energy storage for electricity in addition to the battery. When the A3 runs on e-gas from our plant, the customer is driving with a CO2-neutral impact. Because the exhaust system emits only as much CO2 as was previously used in the production process for e-gas. This means that the A3 g-tron is as climate friendly as an electric car whose batteries are charged with electricity from regenerative energy sources.

This example shows: Efficiency does not work as a solo, but only in concert. That’s why we’re looking far beyond the car. In addition to our e-gas project, we are doing research on other synthetic fuels such as e-diesel and e-ethanol. Here we are working with our American partner, Joule. In the US state of New Mexico, a demonstration plant for the production of sustainable e-ethanol is being built. Microorganisms use the sun’s energy to produce this fuel out of CO2 and industrial water. Its overall CO2 balance is significantly better than with fossil fuel. Another point is that the process needs no biomass, no farmland and no drinking water: a good example for pioneering and sustainable technology.

In parallel, we are working continuously on the efficiency of our engines. 112 combinations of engines and transmissions at Audi currently have emissions of 140 grams of CO2 or less per kilometer. According to a study by the Center of Automotive Management, among the premium manufacturers, Audi is the brand with the lowest fleet emissions in Germany. And it does not stop there. At the entire Volkswagen Group, we stand firmly behind the new EU climate target of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer. To achieve that, we are utilizing the full spectrum of drive concepts: from diesel and gasoline engines to natural gas to electric drive.

The starting signal into the electric era has been given at Audi. We presented the Audi A3 e-tron at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March, as a plug-in hybrid with norm fuel consumption of 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers, a range of 50 kilometers on batteries alone and nearly 1,000 kilometers in total. Its CO2 emissions are about 35 grams per 100 kilometers, setting a benchmark for the mobility of the future. The e-tron version of the Audi A3 is efficient, practical for everyday driving and also affordable.

Ladies and gentlemen, along with our growth, our responsibility grows too.

In our Strategy 2020, we have established an awareness of “we live up to our responsibility.” In this context, we place value on the three pillars of sustainability:

• social responsibility,
• ecology and
• economics.

For us, sustainability means that we shape products and processes in a sustainable way along the entire value chain. That’s why we operate as prudent entrepreneurs.

That’s why we create a positive working environment for our employees and offer young people training and prospects. That’s why we are constantly making our automobiles more efficient and safer for their occupants and other road users.

And we effectively tackle the great challenges of the automotive industry:

• Electric mobility,
• hybrid solutions
• gas-gasoline concepts,
• alternative energy sources,
• lightweight construction and innovative materials,
• and intelligent electronics.

We utilize the synergies of our global network for procurement, development and production. We minimize the use of resources at our worldwide sites – in production as well as in IT and the offices.

We are actively working on the city of the future and on new transport concepts.

Detailed information on the progress we have made so far and on the measures planned can be found in the Audi Corporate Responsibility Report, which we are pleased to hand over to you today.

All of this supports our vision of CO2-free mobility. We are firmly convinced that it will become a reality in the future.

And we are committed to support this vision at full speed. That’s our promise.

Thank you.

Thank you!

Ingolstadt, May 16, 2013 – Five more weeks until the Le Mans 24 Hours celebrates its 90th anniversary. Over the period of 14 years, Audi has won this classic race eleven times and in doing so has consistently been delivering top performances in aerodynamics as well. They are a major reason for excellent lap times being achieved again and again despite the reductions of engine output due to the regulations.

A look at Audi’s first sports prototype is quite revealing, as the concept of the Audi R8R from 1999 clearly differed from the current R18 e-tron quattro – not only because the first race car had an open cockpit as opposed to the closed one of the current car.

On the road from the past to the present, not a single aspect of aerodynamics has remained untouched:

-The radiators of the R8R engine still laid flat at the front end. The warm exit air escaped from the hood in front of the cockpit opening and partially flowed across the top of the cockpit and to the right and left. To optimize airflow to the rear end, including the rear wing, Audi has been integrating the radiators and intercoolers into the sidepods as of the Audi R8 (2000). This clearly improved the airflow.

-The introduction of diesel direct injection in the Audi R10 TDI in the 2006 season, due to the different combustion process, increased the cooling requirements by around 30 percent. Furthermore, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, which has been fielded since 2012, has a low-temperature circuit for cooling the hybrid system – which poses an additional challenge. Still, no other Audi LMP sports car has ever been as aerodynamically efficient as the R18 e-tron quattro.

-With the innovative micro-tube radiator, Audi managed to make a major step ahead. The conventional aluminum louver-finned radiator that creates high aerodynamic drag is now a thing of the past. The coolant in the R18 e-tron quattro flows through a system made up of more than 11,000 small tubes per radiator, and the radiators no longer require fins. These radiators can be freely configured. With the same radiator size, the pressure drop of the airflow can be reduced by more than 25 percent. Alternatively, with pressure conditions remaining the same, the size of the radiator can be reduced accordingly.

-With respect to the ratio between downforce and aerodynamic drag, Audi has continually optimized the LMP sports cars. This ratio expresses how much the aerodynamicists have improved the race car’s downforce without a corresponding increase of aerodynamic drag.

-Audi achieved these advances despite the fact that the regulations have increasingly restricted the latitude for the aerodynamicists. For example, when the project was launched in 1999, the rear wing was allowed to fill a maximum volume of 2,000 mm (width) x 400 mm (length) x 150 mm (height). Today, these dimensions have been reduced to 1,600 x 250 x 150 mm. Through a large number of individual solutions, such as the rear wing suspended from the top (in use since the Audi R15 TDI in 2009), Audi has compensated for a major part of the lost downforce. It allows significantly improved airflow to the wing. This principle was subsequently used by many others too.

-The specifications for the underfloor were significantly modified as well. As of the Audi R10 TDI (2006), the specifications have been requiring a seven-degree increase of the profile cross-section toward the sides and a central wooden board being mounted underneath the chassis. Despite such limitations, a modern LMP sports car achieves downforce levels that would theoretically allow it to run on the ceiling of a tunnel without falling down.

-The distribution of the aerodynamic loads on a sports car, for instance, harbors surprising elements, such as the front diffusor together with the rear wing generating half of the downforce, as does the underfloor with the rear diffusor. This downforce is counteracted by the inevitable lift that is generated by the airflow around the cockpit and above the body. It equates to around a fourth of the downforce value.

“The lap times reflect the significance of the strides that have been made in aerodynamics,” emphasizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Of course there are many other influencing factors – the powertrain, the tires, the chassis, the ultra-lightweight design or the distribution of weight. To name just one example for the sake of comparison: In 2006, the fastest race lap at Le Mans was 3m 31.211s. The R10 TDI back then had 12 cylinders, 5.5 liters of displacement and, delivering more than 650 hp, was our most powerful LMP race car. Six years later, the best lap time was 3m 24.189s. Our cars had become more than seven seconds faster. But the V6 TDI engine of the Audi R18 ultra in 2012 was only allowed to have a displacement of 3.7 liters and delivered around 510 hp. A major share of these advances is owed to optimized aerodynamics. This year, we’re competing with a long-tail body that we expect to deliver further advantages for Le Mans.”