Audi builds battery assembly plant to attack electric vehicles

At present, the lack of production capacity of high-quality battery suppliers has become a stumbling block for car companies to accelerate the electrification layout. Affected by the epidemic, LG Chem suspended production at its Chinese factory last month, which has a greater impact on the battery supply of European automakers. LG Chem is a supplier of many car companies such as Volvo and Audi. In order to alleviate the lack of production capacity, Volvo has also established the first battery assembly line in the Belgian factory, and it has officially started operations on March 9 this year.

"We will build a battery assembly plant, which is currently in preparation." Audi told the First Financial Reporter in writing yesterday that it will achieve carbon neutrality as a whole by 2050 and is currently gradually achieving this goal. For example, Audi e Brussels -The tron ​​plant has been certified for carbon neutrality. By 2020, the Gyor plant in Hungary will also be carbon dioxide neutral. By 2025, Audi plans to launch about 30 electrified models, and then the proportion of new energy vehicle sales will increase from the current 3.5% to about 40%. In addition, Audi will launch more than 20 models in the Chinese market this year, including 4 new energy vehicles and 13 Audi sports models. By the end of 2021, Audi will launch nine new energy vehicles in the Chinese market.

In the wave of electrification of the automobile industry, traditional auto giants have increased their investment in this field, but at the same time, they must control the cost of auto companies to protect profits. In the just past 2019, Audi's sales revenue reached 55.7 billion euros, operating profit reached 4.5 billion euros, and operating sales return rate was 8.1%. At the same time, thanks to expenditure and investment control, its return on investment increased to 12.7%, exceeding its set minimum target of 9%. "We have completed our financial goals for 2019, and operating profit margins in all quarters of 2019 are above 7%." Audi told reporters that while increasing investment in the electric vehicle field, we must ensure that the Audi Group's profitability goals are not Affected.

In terms of cost, the Audi Group launched the Audi Transformation Program (ATP) two years ago and plans to achieve a capital saving target of 15 billion euros by 2022. The reporter learned that since the implementation, the plan has saved Audi more than 4.4 billion euros of funds, of which 2.5 billion euros were saved in 2019. In addition, Audi has launched the "Audi. Future" plan, which will increase the efficiency and flexibility of the German factory and pave the way for the production of electric vehicles in Germany. By 2029, the plan is expected to help generate 6 billion euros in revenue.

"The pattern of China's high-end auto market has undergone fundamental changes, and the entire industry is undergoing a comprehensive transformation to network, electrification, and sustainability, which poses huge challenges to all market participants." Audi told reporters The return on investment of electric models is not as good as traditional models, but it still intends to increase profits as much as possible while maintaining profitability. On the one hand, optimize the product sequence to increase sales revenue while reducing product complexity. On the other hand, the scale and synergy are tapped through the PPE electrification platform developed in cooperation with Porsche and the MEB modular platform of Volkswagen Group.

Not long ago, the Volkswagen Group announced that it plans to acquire 0.36% of the freely tradable shares of the Audi brand. After the completion of the transaction, Volkswagen Group will hold 100% of the Audi brand. The reporter learned that on April 1st, Markus Duesmann (Markus Duesmann) will serve as the chairman of the management board of Audi Auto AG. Under his leadership, the Audi brand will be fully responsible for the research and development of the Volkswagen Group. The strategic position of Volkswagen Group will be further strengthened.

"This acquisition will make Audi more closely integrated into the Volkswagen Group. Audi is responding to future challenges through a more competitive positioning, and will effectively use the advantages of the group's joint force and scale effect. However, Audi will continue to be a Independent companies and brands are responsible for the research and development of the entire Volkswagen Group. "Audi told reporters that in the future, whether in electrification or digital transformation, Audi will fully benefit from the synergy with the Volkswagen Group.

In terms of organizational structure, Volkswagen Group will set up a new "Car.Software" department, responsible for the software development of the entire group. And Ingolstadt, where Audi's global headquarters is located, will also become the core of the organizational structure of the group's new independent business unit "Car.Software". With VW.OS becoming the unified vehicle operating system for all new models of the Volkswagen Group, Audi will also be able to develop the required software for customers and quickly apply it to vehicles. In addition, Audi will also benefit from the autonomous driving cooperation project reached between Volkswagen Group and Ford. Audi Group will save part of its R & D expenditure, and its strategic target range of R & D expenditure and capital expenditure ratio will be increased to 5.0% to 6.0% respectively. between.

In addition, despite the current impact of the epidemic, Audi's investment in the field of electric vehicles remains unchanged. However, Audi has gradually closed its factories in Ingolstadt, Neckarm, Brussels, Belgium, Mexico and Hungary within this week. "The epidemic has a great impact on the supply chain, production and sales of automobiles, but the impact on Audi's economy and business operations is still uncertain, and it is impossible to predict Audi's performance in 2020." Audi said to reporters that the current No bottlenecks have been encountered in the supply of parts and components in China, and the potential risks can be reduced in a targeted manner.