Audi to Invest Nearly $16b on Self-driving Car Tech

Germany’s Audi AG, the luxury carmaker of Volkswagen, announced on Tuesday its plans to invest €14 billion ($15.9 billion) through 2023 on electric mobility and self-driving cars as it prepares its business for the technologies that are transforming the automotive industry.

The firm will increase its spending from the start of 2019 to go forward in future transportation technologies including electric mobility, autonomous driving, and digital services.

Audi stated that the company’s total estimated expenditure for the next five years will amount to €40 billion ($45.6 billion). The auto group also plans restructuring measures that will bring in 1 billion in earnings uplift already this year.

Audi’s interim management board chairman Bram Schot, said the planning round bears a clear signature that they are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be more focused in the future.

Schot added that they are consistently prioritizing their resources for future-oriented products and services that are highly attractive and relevant to the market.

The firm is working with Stuttgart-based Porsche AG to set up a new electric platform, the Premium Architecture Electrification (PPE), for large electric vehicles. Audi is also working on a full-electric compact hatchback using VW’s MEB electric platform.   

The German automaker’s investment announcement continues its previously stated plans to build electric vehicles. Back in 2015, then Audi US President Scott Keogh stated that at least a quarter of all Audi vehicles sold in the US will be electric.

The company introduced in September its first wholly electric car, the e-tron SUV. Audi expects to offer 20 electrified vehicles, which include hybrids, in 2025 and about half of those cars will have all-electric drive systems. The firm is also investing in digital services like the on demand functions.

At the same time, Audi is moving forward with the digitalization of its vehicles and production plants, and is growing its business model further with new digital services such as functions on demand.

The firm is also releasing three new-generation volume electric vehicles. The first, the e-tron crossover, is now being rolled out in Europe. The e-tron Sportback is due for introduction in late 2019, while Audi recently offered a peek of the third car, the e-tron GT, at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month.

The GT concept’s production version is set to go on sale in 2020 to compete against Tesla Inc.’s Model S.

The US electric carmaker has been making progress in the production of its lower-tier Model 3 after news about the group has produced 1,000 vehicles in a day. Tesla aims to produce 5,000 Model 3s per week.

Shares of Audi last stood at €782.00 on Tuesday.

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