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A great combination: AUDI AG invests in csi group of companies 2011-11-28
- Minority interest in development services provider csi
- Technical Development chief Michael Dick: "Together we have already brought plenty of successful projects onto the road."
- Building on partnership with expert in interior and body development
AUDI AG is planning to acquire a 49 percent stake in the csi group of companies. The brand with the four rings will use the acquired expertise to create additional capacity for the development of new
models.
"The engineers at csi have been a reliable partner to us for more than a decade," commented Michael Dick, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at AUDI AG. "Together we have
already brought plenty of successful projects onto the road the R8 being a prime example."
Steffen Boll, Managing Director and co-founder of csi verwaltungs GmbH, is convinced that Audi and csi will benefit from the deeper relationship. "Take lightweight construction, for example. Our
approaches to intelligent composite construction are a good fit there will be plenty of scope for synergy."
The core areas of expertise of csi's workforce of around 250 include interior and body development, as well as lightweight construction based on an innovative mix of materials. Alongside its
Development Center in Neckarsulm, csi has operations in Ingolstadt, Sindelfingen, Munich, Winterberg, Wolfsburg, Weissach and Zwickau.
The planned investment in csi is currently being examined by the relevant antitrust authorities.
Audi A4 and Audi 80 Audi celebrates its ten millionth midsize car
The models in Audi's midsize class the Audi A4 and its predecessor, the Audi 80 constitute the heart of the brand. The company recently celebrated a true milestone in production..
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AUDI AG: record deliveries of more than 652,950 cars in first half
Growth driven by Audi A1, A8 and SUVs - AUDI AG delivered more than 652,950 cars to customers worldwide in the first six months of the year, an increase of 17.7 percent on the same period in 2010.
Demand for the premium carmaker's SUV models rose significantly, while the Audi A1 and the A8 brought additional growth.
- Worldwide 117,650
- Europe 67,350
- United States 10,051
- Asia-Pacific 33,050
- China 27,658
- India 408
- Brazil 555
"The first half of the year was clearly better than we had expected above all thanks to a strong performance in European markets," comments Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management
for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG. "We are also optimistic about the coming months. Even though the second half is traditionally weaker, we will be launching high-volume models specifically important to European
markets, the new A6 Avant and the Audi Q3."
From January through June, total sales in Europe rose by 13.5 percent to around 382,850 cars. The main drivers of this growth were the Audi A1 and the A8, the latter having been steadily increasing
its market shares since its introduction at the start of last year. And the brand has significantly increased its presence in the luxury class with the Audi Q7: In Europe, sales of Audi's large SUV gained 23.5
percent over the same period last year.
The German market delivered significant growth over this period. With a total of 125,091 cars sold, AUDI AG improved on the prior-year period by 15.7 percent thanks to the new A1, the A7 and strong
growth of the A6 sales.
Other notable sales increases were achieved in France (up 26.1 percent), and in the highly design-minded markets United Kingdom (up 11.7 percent) and Scandinavia. In Scandinavia, sales leaped by 19.3
percent to 10,423 cars in Sweden, by 28.7 percent to 4,310 cars in Norway, by 29.3 percent to 3,898 cars in Finland and by 30.2 percent to 3,678 cars in Denmark. Demand for Audi models also rose in Eastern Europe
with 24.1 percent more units sold in Russia, bringing the total to 11,757 cars.
In the United States, Audi advanced by 15.4 percent to 55,909 cars in the first half of the year. The brand's new flagship model, the A8, was likewise well received there and its SUVs gained
considerable ground. Sales of the Q5 were up 14.2 percent, with the Q7 registering a huge 41.2 percent rise in sales.
Progress in Asia was again dominated by rising sales figures in the biggest market, China. Audi sold 140,699 cars there in the first half of the year, 28 percent more than in the first six months of
2010 and substantially more than in its German home market. Significant growth was seen in the lower segments. Although the luxury models continued to dominate the picture the Audi A6 is easily the top-selling
model on 54,529 units sales of the Audi Q5 almost doubled (+97.4 percent) and sales of the A4 gained a further 34.2 percent.
The other Asian country among the booming BRIC countries, India, is becoming an increasingly important market for Audi. With unit sales of 2,802 cars over the first six months a rate of increase of
100.1 percent India lay well ahead of the main growth markets in America, namely Brazil (2,182 cars, up 47.0 percent) and Argentina (2,657 cars, up 29.5 percent).
Schwarzenbauer added: "In China mobility is happening top-down. That society's elite has long been driving full-size cars; the new, affluent middle class is now discovering smaller premium vehicles.
In India, mobility is taking shape in the lower segments; the premium market for larger vehicles is now growing continuously. We have decided to introduce our new Audi Q3 in India to support that development."
Audi A8 with broadband Internet connection
Audi presents the A8 with new LTE mobile communications technology
Audi unveils an A8 wired for broadband with LTE technology. Developed in collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent, the car's mobile broadband connection can transfer data faster than conventional
3G-technology and modern DSL connections.
During the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, announced that LTE technology would be used in cars by early 2011. Just some weeks
later, Audi and its development partner, Alcatel-Lucent, present a fully functional prototype. The Audi A8 L with LTE technology contains the mobile communications technology of the future: LTE is considered the
successor to the current 3G transmission technology, which also includes the UMTS mobile communications standard. LTE offers very high data transfer rates that can reach up to 100 Mbit per second. In comparison, a
fast 3G connection offers about 14,4 Mbit per second.
With its short transfer rates, LTE mobile communications allow significantly faster access to Internet content and allow large amounts of data to be exchanged. For demonstration the technicians used
the LTE connection for transmitting high-definition videos live to the vehicle.
" We will use LTE technology to extend our advantage in automotive networking and further consolidate the Audi connect strategy," says Michael Dick, Audi Board Member for Technical Development, during
the presentation of the prototype.
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