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The 2023 Dakar Rally surprised the participants with great hardship and caused a lot of turbulence in the classification. Stony tracks after the prologue led to 14 punctures on four consecutive legs starting on New Year’s Day in Team Audi Sport, spread across all three Audi RS Q e-tron cars. Sections with camel grass imposed heavy compressions and thus high loads on the rally cars and their crews on the fifth stage. And finally, rain not only caused unexpectedly hard sand but forced a route change. Due to a flooded bivouac site, the organizers inserted a half-marathon stage with a modified route and limited service before the rest day on January 9.

Unlike many of its competitors, Audi is building on its existing global production network to achieve this vision. “Step by step, we are bringing all our sites into the future,” says Audi Board Member for Production and Logistics Gerd Walker. “We don’t want any standalone lighthouse projects on greenfield sites. Instead, we are investing in our existing plants so they end up being just as efficient and flexible as newly built production sites or greenfield plants.” According to Walker, this is sustainability in action – in economic, ecological, and social aspects. “The path Audi is taking conserves resources and accelerates our transformation to a provider of sustainable premium mobility,” Walker emphasizes.

The Audi Board Member for Production and Logistics wants to make manufacturing flexible and resilient to ensure it will be future-proof in the long term. In keeping with this aim, Audi developed its comprehensive strategy taking various perspectives into account. Walker and his team focused on the following questions: “What does society expect from us? What do our customers demand? What are the expectations of stakeholders, and what will our employees need in the future?” In response, Audi has created the 360factory; a vision of the future. The approach places equal emphasis on cost-effectiveness, sustainability, flexibility, and attractiveness.

An ambitious roadmap on the road to e-mobility

By the end of the decade, Audi will be making electric-drive models at all of its production sites worldwide. “To achieve our goal, we are relying on our highly qualified staff and will make all our employees fit for the future by 2025 with a training budget of around 500 million euros,” says Walker. Two sites, Böllinger Höfe and Brussels, are already producing all-electric vehicles. Starting next year, the Audi Q6 e-tron will be the first all-electric model to roll off the production line in Ingolstadt. And production of all-electric cars will gradually start in Neckarsulm, San José Chiapa, and Győr as well. In 2029, all production sites will be producing at least one all-electric vehicle model. Depending on local conditions, production of the remaining combustion models will be gradually phased out by the beginning of the next decade.

New plants will only be built where additional capacity is needed. For example, Audi and its partner FAW are currently building a site in Changchun (China) where models based on the PPE (Premium Platform Electric) technology platform will be locally produced. With construction set to finish by the end of 2024, this will be the first automotive plant in China where only all-electric Audi models roll off the line.

Transformation as a catalyst for increased productivity

However, electrifying its plants is but one aspect on the road to Audi’s vision for the production of the future. “We will use the transition to e-mobility to make major leaps in productivity and optimization by making the necessary modifications,” says Walker. Once it is equipped for the future, Audi’s production network is intended to be economical, sustainable, and attractive as well as flexible. Four central goals with ambitious key figures: To ensure that future production will be economical, Audi wants to cut annual factory costs in half by 2033. To achieve this, the brand with the four rings plans to reduce the complexity of its vehicles where it does not benefit the customer – to this end, vehicle development will take a streamlined production process into account from stage one. The premium manufacturer will also continue to digitalize production, for example, with the Edge Cloud 4 Production solution using local servers. This will make it possible to replace expensive industrial PCs, reducing IT efforts such as software rollouts and operating system changes. In the future, Audi will also be using another new solution – cycle-independent modular assembly – to simplify work with high product variability. Virtual assembly planning saves material resources and makes innovative, flexible collaboration possible across locations.

Flexible, sustainable production

To ensure the premium manufacturer will be able to respond more flexibly to fluctuations in customer demand or production program, Audi will make its manufacturing processes even more flexible. “We want to structure both product and production so we get the optimum benefit for our customers,” says Walker. To this end, the new Audi Q6 e-tron, for example, will initially be made in Ingolstadt on the same line as the Audi A4 and A5. The electric models will then gradually replace the combustion cars on the lines.

Audi has been pursuing its Mission:Zero environmental program to reduce its ecological footprint related to production and logistics since 2019. The program’s central goal is to make all Audi production sites worldwide net carbon neutral1 by 2025. To this end, the plants in Brussels and Győr as well as the Böllinger Höfe in Neckarsulm have already been converted. The environmental program also addresses the areas of resource and water efficiency as well as the protection and preservation of biodiversity. For example, Audi plans to halve today’s ecologically weighted water consumption2 value in its production sites by 2035. In 2018, Audi México became the world’s first premium manufacturer to produce cars completely wastewater-free. At the Neckarsulm site, a water cycle was set up in a pilot project between the factory and the neighboring municipal wastewater treatment plant, which will reduce the demand for freshwater by more than 70 percent.

On its way to becoming a 360factory, Audi is now setting itself even more ambitious sustainability targets related to production. By 2030, the company aims to cut its absolute environmental impact in the areas of primary energy consumption, power plant emissions, CO2 equivalents, air pollutants, local water risk, and wastewater and waste volumes in half, compared with the 2018 figure. Important steps to achieve this goal include generating renewable energy in-house and using innovative technologies to create more circular value chains where resources used are utilized in closed cycles.

Attractive internally and externally

The Audi 360factory will also showcase Audi as an attractive employer both internally and externally – particularly within production. As part of this commitment, Audi is currently working on concepts for making working hours more flexible, even in areas that are tied to specific shifts. Audi is also making the working environment and break rooms more comfortable for its employees. The Audi Production division does not see itself purely as a vehicle manufacturer, but also as a developer of process technology. “We want to be the best employer – for our employees already on board as well as for all applicants, students, and professionals,” says Walker. “Our transformation into the 360factory will require the very best minds, even in disciplines not commonly associated with production, such as electronics and software development.”

As Audi’s first fully comprehensive 360factory, the Ingolstadt plant will serve as a blueprint for the transformation of the company’s large-scale production facilities worldwide. The other sites will tackle the transformation step-by-step. “We still have a long way to go,” says Walker. “But the direction we’re headed in and the steps to get there are clear.” 

Mr. Fehlberger, you’re 40 years old and have been driving RS models for 20 years, right now an RS 6 Avant. Why the brand loyalty?

Andreas Fehlberger: It started with an experience I had while I was doing my training. My boss let me drive his RS 4, and I was hooked. I’ve always liked station wagons, and the RS 6 is a car that’s perfect for every situation. I often use it to do bulk shopping. Besides that, I always wanted to have something special, not a small car or an off-the-shelf color. I bought my first RS in 2002, a B5-generation RS 4 in Daytona Gray Pearl Effect. After that I had two RS 5s, one in metallic Suzuka Gray and one in metallic Ipanema Brown. Finally, I ended up with the RS 6, a C7 in metallic Austin Yellow. Right now I’m driving a current C8-generation RS 6 in Berry Pearl Effect.

You’re obviously a fan of custom paint jobs. That aside, what’s your take on the current design language for the RS 6 Avant?

Fehlberger: It’s exactly the right way to go. If it were up to me, the RS 6 would look even sharper. The C7 was a bit more daring from the outside, and the C8, with its even fatter cheeks, carbon package and 22-inch tires, which I drive winter and summer, is exactly my car. To me, small wheels are a make-or-break criterion [laughs].

Over the years, output has risen steadily in almost all segments, and your RS 6 Avant has a whopping 600 PS. Is that in keeping with the times?

Fehlberger: We could debate this for hours, I’m sure. I appreciate the output when I need it, but of course I don’t always push things to the limit; most of the time I drive rather comfortably. Then there’s the fuel aspect, which is also a big issue at the moment, especially when a liter costs more than two euros. On average, eleven or twelve liters will take me about 100 kilometers. Now and then, I’ll manage to do it in under ten when I’m driving in efficiency mode.

Do you ever hit the racetrack?

Fehlberger: No, never of my own accord. I was in Italy recently – I like to drive up and down the mountain passes there. But I drive mainly for the enjoyment of it. To me, it’s important to know how to control a car that has an output like this. That’s why I take part in training sessions on the racetrack when the opportunity arises.

Let’s look a few years into the future. Would you drive a partially electric RS 6 Avant?

Fehlberger: Let me put it this way: I’m not against it, but it has to look and feel right, on a par with my RS 6. I don’t see myself driving an all-electric car yet.

Back to your RS 6 Avant. Is it your only car? 

Fehlberger: Yes, because all I need is my RS 6 – even on Saturdays and Sundays, I always hop into my RS. Like I said, to me the car is the perfect all-rounder, a Jack of all trades, so to speak. Limitless power, space for the whole family, and it looks amazing. The quattro all-wheel drive was another important criterion for me. If the car had rear-wheel drive, I would have bought something else. The RS ceramic brake system is an absolute must-have. Then there is the laser light and rear lights, which always fascinate me, especially the way the light reacts when I lock or unlock the car. But I’m also a big fan of the Bang and Olufsen sound system.

How does your environment react to the RS 6 Avant?

Fehlberger: Last year in Munich, a biker chased me for a while and asked me at a red light if he could take a few pictures. It was probably because of the color, the huge wheels, or the car’s overall stately appearance. But maybe it was also because the car simply goes down well in Germany, the world Capital of station wagons.

Is there anything you miss about your RS 6 Avant that you might expect from its successor?

Fehlberger: I should have treated myself to the massage seats and maybe a little more sound [laughs]. I’d be happy if the next RS 6 would focus more on lighting with OLEDs.

Audi board member for Production and Logistics Gerd Walker underlines the importance of the brand’s new top model: “With its increased efficiency and range, as well as its sharpened design, the new Audi Q8 e-tron is a strong statement for electromobility.” Walker also highlights the outstanding role of the Brussels site as a pioneer for sustainable production: “Brussels has done valuable pioneering work. We are learning from our experience of having delivered around 160,000 vehicles worldwide. As the next step, we will leverage this experience to ramp up battery production in Ingolstadt. ”The battery assembly facility in Brussels is playing a groundbreaking role for the entire Group.

Unlike many competitors, Audi focuses on transforming production from the inside out with the aim of heralding the future of production at Audi, the 360factory. Meanwhile, Brussels is a model for some areas of this innovative plant concept. To Audi, investing in existing plants is ‘sustainability in action’ – economically, ecologically, and socially. “The path Audi is taking conserves resources and accelerates our transformation,” Walker emphasizes. For Xavier Ros, Audi board member for Human Resources and Organization, Brussels provides valuable insights concerning targeted employee qualification programs. “The experience Brussels has gained since 2018 can be used across locations throughout the Audi Group.”

Audi Brussels CEO Volker Germann also highlights the role the staff have played: “Building the Audi Q8 e-tron will take more than just our entire infrastructure. Above all, it is our team of passionate employees who come together to make this car.”

Brussels is a role model for sustainable production

The Audi Q8 e-tron will reach customers in Europe and the United States as a certified net carbon-neutral1 car. From 2025, production at all Audi plants will be carbon neutral as part of the company-wide environmental program Mission:Zero. Named “Factory of the Future” in 2020 by the employers’ association Agoria, Brussels achieved this distinction as early as 2018. Since production of the Audi e-tron began, the Belgium site has been recognized as the world’s first certified carbon-neutral high-volume production plant in the premium segment. The site switched to green power back in 2012. Among other things, Audi Brussels installed one of the region’s largest photovoltaic systems on the plant premises, covering 107,000 square meters. The system generates around 9,000-megawatt hours of power from sustainable energy every year. That’s enough to charge some 90,000 Audi Q8 e-tron units and reduce carbon emissions by 1,881 tons. The companies that supply the battery cells are obliged to use only renewable energy sources for production. The electric traction motors for production are transported from Hungary to Brussels by green freight. Since May 2022, Audi has been using rail transport on the approximately 1,300-kilometer route, a decision that reduces carbon emissions by around 2,600 tons annually.

AUDI AG has owned the Belgium site since 2007. After acquiring it, Audi Brussels converted the plant to produce the Audi A1, a new addition to the Audi model range at the time. 2018 saw the birth of the Audi e-tron. In 2021, Audi Brussels produced 43,866 all-electric cars. Starting in the second half of 2023, more than 3,000 employees will also make the Audi Q4 e-tron here.