According to Daniel Rojas, CEO of Audi do Brasil, “Audi has a solid and long-lasting relation with Brazil, and even after a brief interruption of the operations in the last year, we always believed in the recovery and growth potential of this country. Thus, the company has made efforts to resume its local production, reinforcing the reliability on the country and on customers with this global product.”

According to Ratinho Junior, Governor of the State of Paraná, “the plant re-opening dangles an optimistic scenario after so many challenging years due to the pandemic, but we could overcome the difficulties and now, gradually, we are resuming the economic activities. We are proud of hosting Audi in Brazil, taking part of this so special journey and we look forward to continue together with this history of great achievements.”

Manufacturing activities will resume with the new Audi Q3 and Audi Q3 Sportback, which are both equipped with a 231 HP 2.0 TFSI engine.

Among the highlights of the new Q3 are the traction quattro and 8-speed tiptronic transmission which equips a vehicle with transverse engine. This enables a smoother, more comfortable shift between gears and represents a technological first.

To facilitate the re-opening of the manufacturing plant, Audi do Brasil invested R$ 100 million Real in modernizing its assembly line, equipping it with new machinery, tooling, quality control equipment and information technology and logistics infrastructure systems. This amount comes on top of a further R$ 446 million that has been invested by the brand over the last ten years.

The new Audi Sustainability Hub will also illuminate the ways that Audi has integrated sustainability into every department. It just launched and is now available at Audi MediaCenter.

The GREENTECH FESTIVAL 2022 offers a platform to anyone who wants to discuss sustainable development, climate, and environmental protection while fostering concepts for a sustainable future. Apart from Audi, more than 100 other exhibitors will offer presentations. The festival program includes open forums, panel discussions, keynote speeches, and boot camps. 

“Direct dialog with various stakeholders – including critics – is very important to us,” emphasizes Silja Pieh, Chief Strategy Officer at AUDI AG. “Exchanging knowledge and seeing other people’s innovative sustainability concepts is enriching for us.” Another highlight is the GREEN AWARDS, which honor engaged individuals, institutions, companies, startups, and innovations for their ideas about greater sustainability. Linda Kurz, Head of Product Marketing in Germany, is among the laudators for awards, which will be presented on Wednesday (June 22). The GREENTECH FESTIVAL was founded by sustainability entrepreneur Nico Rosberg and engineers Marco Voigt and Sven Krüger.

Sustainability in the supply chain

By 2030, Audi wants to incrementally reduce vehicle-specific carbon emissions by 40 percent over reference year 2018. To be able to reach that ambitious goal, it will also have to intervene in its upstream supply chain processes in a number of ways. Audi was able to save over 480,000 tons of carbon equivalents (CO2e) in 2021 thanks to renewable energy, low-carbon materials, and secondary materials in its supply chain.*

With its circular economy strategy, Audi intends to establish more and more closed material cycles. Raw materials are supposed to be reintroduced into the production process once they are no longer being used. One example is car glass: in a pilot project, Audi and its partners Reiling Glas Recycling, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit are turning old car glass into new windows for the Audi Q4 e-tron.

Carbon-neutral production sites

The Mission:Zero environmental program is Audi’s roadmap to sustainable production and logistics. The endpoint: carbon-neutral production sites by 2025. Audi Hungaria has reached this target already in 2020 and Audi Brussels became the world’s first carbon-neutral high-volume production plant in the premium segment in 2018. At the Neckarsulm site, assembly of the Audi e-tron GT is net carbon-neutral. Visitors can experience the electrically powered Coupé up close through the Audi driving experience in the outdoor area at the former airport and at the Audi exhibition stand. Moreover, the plant in Neckarsulm is using a pilot facility to test ways of using water from an adjacent purification facility in production, once it has been processed appropriately. At the Ingolstadt site, Audi has been using processed wastewater as service water since 2019.

Audi charging hub

For quick charging in urban areas, Audi is building up its peerless Audi charging hubs in more and more cities. Quick-charging stations with high-power charging points. Used lithium ion batteries function as power storage systems for the charging cubes. These second-life batteries come from disassembled Audi test vehicles. Audi particularly wants its quick-charging stations to reach drivers in urban environments who do not have their own charging options.

Feedback for the initial pilot stations in Nuremberg has been consistently positive. Audi recorded roughly 3,100 charges at the Nuremberg location between January and the end of April 2022. There will also be an Audi charging hub in Zürich in the second half of the year. Additional locations will follow, including in Salzburg and Berlin.

Audi Environmental Foundation projects

The Audi Environmental Foundation is introducing a selection of its funding projects, including the German-Indian startup Nunam. This new non-profit is putting three electric rickshaws on India’s roads. They are powered by second-life batteries taken from test vehicles in the Audi e-tron test fleet. Nunam developed its three prototypes together with the training team at Audi’s Neckarsulm site. The electric rickshaws are to be used by a non-profit organization and enable women to participate in the rickshaw trade while providing them with a safe mode of transportation.

In Brazil, the Audi Environmental Foundation, together with Audi do Brasil, is supporting the NGO Litro de Luz Brasil. In the Amazon region, these project partners are providing three villages that do not have electricity with solar lanterns, which will raise their living standards and make them safer at night.

With its URBANFILTER project, the Audi Environmental Foundation and the Technical University of Berlin are developing smart filters for road drainage. They prevent environmentally harmful particles like tire wear from being flushed into the water via the sewer system.

Anyone who would like to engage with the Audi Environmental Foundation will have the opportunity to do so on the evening of June 23 while plogging. Get your running shoes on and rid the environment of trash while staying in shape. Anyone who will not be on-site in Berlin or would rather plog in a different location can  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and join the running group virtually.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

At the OMR (Online Marketing Rockstars) Festival in Hamburg, the digital and online scene’s largest trade fair, on May 17 and 18, Audi turned its pavilion into a stage for a digital art campaign to benefit people in Ukraine. Artists Ferdi Alici and Eylul Alici of digital art pioneer Ouchhh studio used the Audi pavilion as a design space for their digital artwork “Unseen Universe”. The campaign put people at the center: Chips in the wristbands of the visitors let the data from their movements, interactions, and experiences flow into the digital artwork. Created in real time using artificial intelligence, Ouchhh studio’s digital artwork was constantly evolving through the live data input of the visitors.

The digital artwork “Unseen Universe” was auctioned after the festival as 7,000 NFTs (non-fungible tokens), generating a value of more than $860,000 (as of June 8, 2022). Proceeds from the campaign might continue to rise because each time an “Unseen Universe” NFT is resold, ten percent of the price will be donated to UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe e.V. for the benefit of Ukraine. “The entire UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe team is very grateful for this extraordinary support from AUDI AG and its partners. By offering support for refugees, this creative and passionate project is opening up many opportunities for lives affected by the war,” said Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer, Managing Director of UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe.

Philipp Noack, Sales Director for Germany at Audi, is equally proud: “The digital artwork ‘Unseen Universe’ and its auction as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) was a daring attempt at something new. I am very proud of my team in Audi’s Germany Sales and Marketing Devision, who came up with and mounted this innovative campaign for a good cause within a very short time. We are very excited about the levels of interest and participation that the project has triggered, and we are deeply grateful to be able to make a contribution to UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe’s relief efforts for Ukraine.”

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

A bestseller is celebrating its anniversary: With the first Audi 80, known internally as the “B1”, the Ingolstadt-based company hits the bull’s eye in 1972. It is intended to be “modern, but not trendy,” a reliable family car. On this, then Head of Technical Development at Audi Ludwig Kraus and Volkswagen AG, the new parent company, agree in the late 1960s. As in racecar construction, head developer Ludwig Kraus has his employees check every part to see where weight could still be reduced without compromising on long-term quality, solidity, and strength. The extremely lightweight Audi 80, which goes into production 50 years ago, impresses customers with its sporty handling and low consumption, making it, at the start of the 1973 oil crisis, exactly the right car at the right time. Winning “Car of the Year” the same year, the Audi 80 also wins over the international trade press.

Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Technical Development, still appreciates the achievement of his predecessor Ludwig Kraus and team: “In an impressive way, the Audi 80 demonstrates that Vorsprung durch Technik is a tradition at Audi.” The Audi 80 and its successor models have always been pioneers of major innovation. The four-cylinder TDI, the quattro drive with the self-locking center differential, the dual-clutch transmission, and the rear-axle sport differential – not to mention the five-cylinder turbo engines as in the first RS model – have repeatedly demonstrated Audi’s expertise in Vorsprung durch Technik. Designer Hartmut Warkuss helps shape the design of the first Audi 80 in the new objectivity style of the 1970s. In 1976, Warkuss is promoted to Head of Audi Stilistics, leaving a lasting impression on the design of several generations in Audi’s B, C, and D series. The Audi 80 rolls off the assembly line in four generations (B1 to B4) until 1994/95, when it is replaced by the Audi A4, known internally as the B5. With this model, the Ingolstadt-based company introduces a new nomenclature for its cars. The Audi A4 is now in its fifth edition; the B9 is available as a sedan and Avant, as an S and RS model, and as the Audi A5 in the Coupé, Sportback, and Cabriolet versions.

1972–1978: The Audi 80 B1 – Founder of a new segment

The Audi 80 celebrates its world premiere in the year the Summer Olympics are held in Munich: In July of 1972, the Ingolstadt-based company presents the car to the media, and in September – after the Olympics – to dealers. The B1 establishes a new market segment: the “compact sedan” or B series for short. The newly developed mid-size car rounds off the then model range of the brand with the four rings. The model’s technology introduces numerous new solutions and can soon be found in many Volkswagen Group models.

Consistent lightweight design and other technical innovations

The two-door base model weighs in at just 835 kilograms – strict lightweight construction is one of the specifications set by Head of Technical Development Kraus. With a wheelbase of 2.47 meters and a length of 4.18 meters, he develops the sedan to be highly compact. Suspension engineer Detlef Banholzer implements negative steering roll radius for the first time in a European mass-produced vehicle – a solution that greatly improves stability during braking. With the diagonal layout of the hydraulic braking system, Audi puts the safety of passengers and other road users front and center. A torsion crank axle with spring dampers serves as the rear suspension. The front wheels are controlled by McPherson struts and wishbones. The engine of the Audi 80 sits lengthwise in front of the driven front axle, the four-speed transmission behind it. Four engines are available at market launch; the displacement ranges from 1.3 to 1.6 liters, with power outputs ranging from 40 kW (55 PS) to 74 kW (100 PS). The design highlight of the lively, straightforward four-cylinder engine is the valve control by overhead camshaft with toothed-belt drive and maintenance-free hydraulic tappets. Head of Technical Development Ludwig Kraus comes up with the idea of a modular-design series, designing the four-cylinder overhead camshaft (OHC) engine. Developed by engineer Franz Hauk and team, the engine is known internally as the EA 827 and becomes the most widely built engine in the VW Group.

“Car of the Year 1973” and a real sales hit

With the new generation of OHC engines and its many technical highlights, the Audi 80 quickly becomes a sales success for the Ingolstadt-based company: By the end of production in the summer of 1978, more than one million B1 models will have rolled off the assembly line. With the production capacity at the Ingolstadt plant soon no longer sufficient to meet the high demand, the Volkswagen plants in Wolfsburg and Emden are involved in production.

The Asso di Picche, a coupé concept car styled by Giorgio Giugiaro and built by coachbuilder Karmann, demonstrates the sporty potential of the B1 as early as 1973. The Audi 80 GT goes to series production in 1973, before being replaced by the Audi 80 GTE in October of 1975: Its engine has a power output of 81 kW (110 PS). The driving performance of the new top model already hints at the dynamics that Audi would soon unleash. In 1976, the B1 receives a model update that gives the sedan large block headlights, visually aligning it more closely to the new generation of the Audi 100. Light and fuel-efficient, the Audi 80 becomes very popular, especially after the 1973 oil crisis; the car is also a hit in the USA, where it is sold as the “Fox”.