MILAN – Put a morning at breakfast, with the Grandsphere prototype in the background to open its doors to the future of Audi. The occasion of the Design Week in Milan was taken to bring together Hildegard Wortmann, Marc Lichte and Fabrizio Longo around the table. In order, the head of sales and marketing as well as a member of the board of directors of Audi, the leading man of design and finally the director of the Italian branch of the brand in Ingolstadt. The appointment also served to show us the prototype of the fully electric A6 Avant e-tron station wagon arriving from 2024. And it is obviously Lichte who explains the evolution of style in his home: “For me – he says – the Audi’s success also stems from the fact that it has expressed innovative technology through the design of the cars. Soon, with the advent of automated driving, the interiors will be able to radically change and then their conformation will reflect the new technology. And with interiors where you can do other things besides driving, it will be the overall experience with the car that will make the difference and not just the aesthetics and performance ”.
The decision of the European Union to stop selling cars with traditional engines starting in 2035 has raised more than one eyebrow. At dawn the following day, Hildegard Wortmann nevertheless appears firmly determined to support a choice already made: “It is a choice of great importance – she underlines – which confirms the direction taken by Audi. There is no time to waste and in our opinion the best way to eliminate CO emissions2 is to focus on electric cars. We are ready and it is right that a goal has been given. From 2026 we will only produce electric vehicles and for this reason we have invested almost 40 billion euros in the process “. According to Audi managers, this capital will also serve to allow the installation of the necessary infrastructures, the development of recycling systems and the construction of 6 factories in Europe for the production of batteries, the so-called gigafactory: “The approach – confirms Hildegard Wortmann – must be total. And the new generations expect solutions from us to achieve sustainable and totally neutral mobility in terms of CO emissions2. We have many possibilities because we are part of a group that produces 10 million cars a year and we are no longer just vehicle manufacturers but, in fact, the union of five companies into one ”.
Audi’s image is a clear factor in the success of the House of the four rings. Fabrizio Longo underlines this: “We have worked hard for this – he says – and since 2013 the branch and the dealers have worked in a single direction to make customers feel important. Trust in the brand is of utmost importance to us and we try to communicate indisputable values to those who choose our cars. As for young people, we think for them of a different concept of car use, perhaps centered on the time of use rather than on ownership “. A job that risks spreading like wildfire in the future: “Beware – warns Hildegard Wortmann – that individual mobility will cost more and this is the price to pay for the elimination of CO emissions.2“. For Audi, in any case, the game seems to be done.