Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015

Rupert Stadler Chairman of the Board Management of AUDI AG
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

never before in nearly 130 years of automotive history has our industry changed as fast and as completely as now: How we engineer our cars, how we produce them, how we present a new model, where we sell it, who we sell our cars to and: Who we work with in the future.

There is no question about it: How we engineer our cars, follows other rules than for example 27 years ago, when we entered the Chinese market. Sustainability is one of the major new drivers for our engineers. This is why we develop new drive-train technologies. They meet CO2 legislation and drastically reduce emissions: From the plug-in hybrid to the electric car.

A second driver is – guess what – digitalization. This is why we meet here today. The new car is far more than hardware. It is an interface between the driver and his digital life, between the car systems and traffic infrastructure and finally between our customer and us.

I indicated it already in the beginning: We have a big change also in the way how we produce our cars.

We are introducing new production technologies in our smart factories. This includes a fully digital workflow, 3D printers for certain parts and new robotics with extended man-machine interaction.

In 2013, we opened our virtual showroom Audi City in Beijing. This is a showroom with nearly no car at all.

You can see your dream car in this digital dream factory on a large screen called power wall. And customize it with movements of your body and with gestures. Also, where we sell our cars has changed. National brands have turned into global ones. Others have vanished. Twenty years ago, only one out of ten cars of Audi left Europe. Today, it is six out of ten that are shipped internationally. Global business to such an extent would not have been possible before the digital age.

Who we sell our cars to has changed. People with modern lifestyle want more than a car. They want a solution. Take a smartphone today. It is much more than a cell phone was before. We even tend to forget that we can make plain and simple phone calls with it. The new generation expects all-rounders.

And this is why a new Audi is so powerful… A car full of solutions!

And finally: Who we work with is changing. Automotive brands encounter new players from the digital world: Software and hardware companies with overnight ideas for new car concepts, search engines with mobile add-ons, data owners such as digital map providers, app and new mobility service providers.

Some of them will be cooperation partners. Others become competitors.

And if people ask me how long this phase of changes will last, my answer is crisp and clear: The change is the new norm. It will not stop.

We are experiencing a digital revolution with an impact faster and stronger than the Industrial Revolution in Europe 150 years ago. Nobody wants street maps of paper anymore. Nobody needs a large dictionary anymore. And nobody wants to look for a public pay phone. Why should we? We can use a single digital device to do all of that.

The question is no longer WHETHER we want a digital life. It is HOW we shape the digital future.

It all depends on what role we take: Get changed? Or be a driver of change! As a premium brand, we are the first to talk to other industries - whose business begins to have an impact on individual mobility.

We make enormous investments in the future - 24 billion euro or more than 165 billion renminbi until 2019. We have new job profiles and new expertise in our staff - such as electrics, electronics, IT and software development. We start a dialogue with politics worldwide - about standards to make the vision of a smart society come true. And we are ready to take risks because we believe in the opportunities.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.2 million people per year have fatal accidents on our roads and in our streets worldwide. And nine out of ten traffic accidents happen because of human errors.

Piloted driving has the potential to make driving a lot safer. Today, you will get a closer look at this innovation on this stage. In 2017, our luxury sedan, the Audi A8 will be on our roads as first series car with piloted driving.

And you know the heavy traffic in Pudong, Changning or Yangpu already today! How can we change urban work and life? People in cities never have enough time. So, saving time must be at the top of the agenda. Second: Space is a valuable good. Managing this good has priority. Third: We have nameless neighbors in the city. The new social networks fulfill a need to relate to others in our peer group. And fourth: Even people striving to live in a city want clean air, green areas and a sustainable way of life.

This is why Audi defines smart technologies to save time and relax – like piloted driving to optimize the use of space – like piloted parking to connect our drivers with the digital world – like the safe integration of email and social media in the car and to provide a new form of individual mobility that is sustainable and fun at the same time – a series of new energy vehicles on our roadmap. And this is what the remainder of this keynote is about.

Thank you.

Luca de Meo Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG,
Sales and Marketing
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

being here jointly with my colleagues, means a lot to me. We always say: THE CAR IS GETTING BIGGER THAN THE CAR. We can also say that an Audi today and tomorrow is not only a car but could be considered the fastest and most powerful mobile device. With 5,000 semiconductors, the car will be able to send and receive data in the Internet of Things, becoming part of the connected world. Digital technologies allow to fulfill new customer expectations.

Take an example: We started a project with Amazon to get online shopping goods delivered directly into the trunk. This is a great success! It works with GPS and a digital key for the parcel service. This is only one example of new features a digital device on four wheels can offer. This will be a must-have in the future.

Being closer to the customers, more than anyone else – that’s PREMIUM for us. It's key for us to know what Audi fans in China expect tomorrow. We do it with our trend scouts of Audi Innovation Research in Beijing. We do it obviously with experts from various industries.

And most importantly, our strong sales organization of 400 dealers gives us daily feedback as well.

This ability to listen translated in the last 27 years into one thing: three million deliveries since our market entry in China, three million moments of trust in our brand and three million chances for valuable feedback.

Fulfilling customer expectations can also be seen on this beautiful Audi TT and its virtual cockpit technology. It displays exactly the information you need: navigation charts, engine data or whatever information you want to see while driving. Technologies like this will allow a maximum of customization. They will come in bigger and compact cars. Because PREMIUM IS NOT A MATTER OF SIZE.

We see that trend also in the Chinese market. In fact, in China, the premium compact market is booming and we are leading the game with three localized models and an 80 percent jump in sales in the first quarter, 2015. And more important: We are conquering new and younger customers and learning they are extremely keen on high-tech.

I personally like science-fiction very much. In science-fiction, nothing is too weired – flying to the moon or printing a new house or a car in 3D. Audi will always stand for visionary ideas. Also, here in China, Audi wants to set trends. I am convinced we do it.

We will launch the Audi A3 e-tron this year and the Audi A6 e-tron beginning next year. Both come with plug-in hybrid technology. This is exactly the technology people need for everyday life in mega-cities like Shanghai. We believe that, by 2020, 50 percent of value creation will be based on new technologies.

This will totally change not only our industry. How exciting this is!

Thank you.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Hackenberg
Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG,
Technical Development
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the Audi RSQ – a fantastic car. Certainly a design icon, but first of all, a movie star. The Audi RSQ was the first car we developed for a motion picture – with great success. This sporty coupé for the 2004 Hollywood science-fiction “I,Robot” was a visionary concept of what a car might look like in 2035. Four designers, ten model engineers, ten weeks, all creative liberties – that’s what it took to create this Audi of the future.

What was really unique and visionary about the Audi RSQ: It was the first Audi demonstrating piloted driving capabilities. Here is one of my favorite moments in the movie – a moment that tells you a lot about piloted driving:

The Audi RSQ is going autonomously in a busy, but fluent traffic situation. Suddenly, the car comes under heavy attack by enemy robots. Actor Will Smith in his role of a police officer decides to take over. Like all heroes, he wants to manage and control critical situations by himself. But his lady co-driver does not trust him and says: “Oh no, don’t do it! It is too dangerous to control the car by yourself!” And she is right, he is damaging the car a few minutes later.

This dialogue is a great lesson in future technology:

1. Relax and rely – technology is always at your service and support.

2. Sometimes, it’s better you let the system take over control.

3. It’s safer, it’s more efficient and more convenient – even in situations that are less dangerous than the one from the movie.

What was science-fiction in 2004, became reality only ten years later. Today, we connect driver, car and environment in an intuitive way. Today, our cars are ready for piloted driving and piloted parking.

Piloted driving is a great example of how we turn technical vision into emotional premium products that fascinate customers around the globe.

As an innovation driver for the automotive industry, we count on a proven formula of success:

Pioneering solutions + precision engineering + partnering with the best. We partner with the leaders in automotive and consumer electronics, in battery systems, in research and education.

And we synchronize the innovation cycles of these different industries. This is the way we innovate – to the benefit of our customers.

Let me give you a couple of examples: In early 2014, we initiated the Open Automotive Alliance with Google to bring the Android platform to the car. Most recently, we announced a strategic partnership with Cubic Telecom, a mobile virtual network operator. Here in China, we work with Huawei to adopt the super-fast LTE tele-communications standard to Chinese specifications. And here at CES Asia, we are proud to announce our cooperation with Chinese web services provider Baidu – a new milestone for innovation leadership.

Partnering is also about building solid relationships with industry associations and government representatives worldwide. This is the fundament for the infrastructure of future mobility. Partnering also means to work closely with international research institutions. An essential part of our future mobility management is our cooperation with 30 universities around the globe. In China, we have the privilege to work on latest connectivity and efficiency topics with Tongji University in Shanghai, Tshinghua University in Beijing and South China University of Technology in Guangzhou. And, we are very pleased with the progress of our R&D Center in Beijing and the innovation we drive from here, especially for our Asian customers.

Now, let’s get into the innovation that results from all of these partnerships. Lighting, driver assistance systems, connectivity, infotainment, human machine interface and piloted driving – with 90 percent of all innovation in the automobile coming from electronics, we have a lot of news to share. The right guy to present those news is Ricky Hudi, Vice President Electronic Development. Welcome, Ricky!

Thank you.

Ricky Hudi Executive Vice President,
Electronic Development AUDI AG
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

given the fact that 90 percent of all innovation in automotive is related to electronics, I am delighted to give you some insight to the five megatrends of this decade: Lighting technology, connectivity, infotainment, Human Machine Interface and driver assistance systems extending to piloted driving.

Lighting: At Audi we look at lighting technologies from the aspects of design, aesthetics, dynamics and, of course, safety. The lighting of the future will react more intensively to conditions of the environment; it will communicate in many different ways and increase active safety. Matrix LED headlights will be further developed towards Matrix Laser technology. In addition, we are working on the integration of organic LEDs – where the light comes alive, is put into motion and enables new forms of expression and differentiation.

Connectivity: Our services in China are comprehensive and overlap in part with those for Europe. Similar to Europe, we offer Point-of-Interest Search and Traffic Information Online. Different to Europe are for example the Traffic Mini Maps in our navigation system. These maps are especially for large cities with frequent traffic jams and display traffic situations in high resolution with colors from green to red. A stable, fast data connection is necessary for such services. We are developing our China-specific LTE module in cooperation with Huawei. Our partners at Huawei will contribute with a well-founded knowledge of the market. Our LTE module supports both of the LTE standards and thereby both market-leading service providers as well, China Mobile and China Unicom.

And you may expect some more pieces of innovation soon. The Audi MMI connect app is currently being prepared for China. It provides additional services connecting smartphone and vehicle including personalized radio, internet radio, POI send-to-car and a Last Mile Navigation service. Moreover, we will intensify our collaboration with Baidu and rapidly extend our service lineup. With Baidu as a partner, we will integrate Baidu CarLife and so the popular Baidu apps in our vehicles. It is comparable to Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto. CarLife should operate on both iOS and Android devices. We are sure to form a strong alliance with Baidu for the Asian market.

Infotainment and Human Machine Interface: Audi is also introducing new features quickly to the market in the area of infotainment and HMI. We will launch our latest innovations including the Audi virtual cockpit and the Audi tablet, as well as the Audi smartphone interface and 3D Sound. All of these new functions are made possible by a revolutionary approach in our electronics architecture – the modular infotainment platform. Thanks to our close collaboration with Nvidia, Audi has the ability to integrate these technologies quickly into the vehicle and to run the same innovation cycle as the consumer electronics industry.

With the Audi tablet we are the first carmaker to create an entirely new generation of in-car-entertainment systems. It has been specifically developed for in-car use and it meets all vehicle requirements, for example crash resistance. For Asia we have integrated the Baidu Web-Broswer and a Baidu App Store. But there is still more to come: In keeping up with tradition, we are once again showing a premiere at the CES! Simultaneously to the current market launch, we are already working on a new gesture control system as an advanced development. So, in the future it will be possible to conveniently operate the Audi tablet from the comfort of a seat without having to remove it from its seat bracket. Touch control, natural language operation and gesture control will play an important role in our future HMI strategy.

Piloted driving: Many people ask what has to be done before we introduce piloted driving to series production. The new Audi Q7* offers now absolutely everything that is currently allowed under the regulations. The next step to realize fully piloted driving, in other words entirely hands-off driving, will require three major technological accomplishments:

First, the vehicle must be capable of recognizing every situation safely and reliably using redundant sensors all around the vehicle. Second, the central driver assistant control unit – called zFAS – will interpret this information correctly and make safe decisions at the speed of light. Third, a new safety architecture will be needed in the vehicle, with systems and functions monitoring each other, or certain actuators having a redundant design.

Audi is the world’s leading carmaker when it comes to series production of piloted driving, and we will be offering this revolutionary feature to our customers in the next generation of the Audi A8.

Thank you.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Hackenberg
Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG,
Technical Development
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the Audi R8 e-tron piloted driving. As a battery-electric sports car with piloted driving capabilities, this technology carrier is our most recent masterpiece of “Vorsprung durch Technik”. 340 kW performance,

0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 sec, top-speed of 250 km/h, electric range of more than 450 km, fast battery charging. Its powerful high-voltage battery is based on a new lithium-ion technology, specifically designed for battery-electric vehicles. In combination with optimized space management and advanced cell technology, battery capacity has reached a new level of more than 90 kWh.

For our customers, that is great news: This battery capacity is the gate-opener to long-range electro-mobility. Also, the Audi R8 e-tron is a true sports car for real driving pleasure. Two electro-motors at the rear axle of the Audi R8 e-tron provide a power of 170 kW each, and an impressive torque of 460 Nm. As a unique feature of battery-electric driving, this strong torque is available from the very first moment. In short, this technology carrier is a synonym for dynamic, efficient and competitive electro-mobility.

And it is a great example of how we electrify the entire product portfolio – from the compact car segment to the luxury segment. Looking into the future of alternative drivetrains: We plan to have a plug-in hybrid in every model family in the coming years. And in early 2018, we will launch a battery-powered Sports Activity Vehicle with a range of more than 500 km.

The key message for our customers: Our efficiency technologies are ready for series production and customer roll-out. The same applies to our current flagship technology – piloted driving. Audi is the pioneer of piloted driving with a unique success story. In fact, CES has been the place where we made history. All test results from our latest activities – such as the 900 km piloted test drive from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas – are important input on our way to series production technology. And we took piloted driving to its physical limits. That’s what we showed in Hockenheim, back in 2014, with our piloted driving concept car going at 240 km/h top-speed.

To demonstrate how well piloted driving works in traffic-intense environments, we are proud to announce a world premiere for CES Asia. International media representatives will experience an eight kilometers one-way piloted drive in an Audi A7 technology carrier from the Shanghai Expo Area to the Bund riverside.

Typically, Shanghai residents spend two hours per day in traffic jams – similar for other Chinese mega-cities such as Chengdu or Beijing. Thanks to piloted functions, driving will become a lot safer, more convenient and more efficient in many ways.

This is technology that cares about our customers’ everyday mobility. And that’s what “Vorsprung durch Technik” is about. We look forward to an exciting CES Asia – this event is another landmark on our journey to future mobility.

Thank you.

Rupert Stadler Chairman of the Board Management of AUDI AG
Audi Keynote International CES Asia 2015
Shanghai, May 24, 2015

Dear Guests,

the revolution is finding its way into the automotive world. And we at Audi use the super-highway to speed this up. These two cars – the Audi Q7 e-tron and the Audi R8 e-tron piloted driving – represent the technology trends of our industry: drive-train electrification, seamless connectivity, the key technology of driving and uncompromising usability.

Usability is so important to us, because of our PREMIUM philosophy: We are CLOSER to the customers and their expectations than anyone else. With half of the value creation in a future car being DIGITAL,

it is only natural, that we PARTNER with the leaders in the IT industry.

Now, it is our common challenge to orchestrate the stream of Big Data. The Internet of Things will increase data traffic tenfold until 2030. For this reason, the Chinese government is absolutely on the right track with its new "Internet Plus strategy" as announced on Thursday. They want to invest hundreds of billions of Yuan to increase Internet speed and broadband access in the whole country. Internet access in more than 14,000 villages still this year and 30 megabytes per second high-speed Internet for major cities.

The next step is efforts. Let’s interconnect the right objects with each other in the right logic. Let’s create a swarm intelligence with an enormous impact on our lives.

We are currently addressing megacities all over the world. The idea behind it is to create standardized smart interfaces between their citizens, infrastructure and traffic. In 15 years, more than half of the population on earth will live in cities. For Shanghai this means an increase of eleven million citizens.

The thing is 75 percent of the urban infrastructure our society will need by 2050, has not yet been built.

This is a great opportunity.

Everything will be in the flow and synchronized with each other. The city of the future will become part of the connected world. The car of the future will close the gap with smart technologies.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed the show.

Fuel consumption figures of the models named above:
The fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions of a vehicle vary due to the choice of wheels and tires. They not only depend on the efficient utilization of the fuel by the vehicle, but are also influenced by driving behavior and other non-technical factors.

Audi A3 Sportback e-tron:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 1.7 – 1.5;
Combined power consumption in kWh/km: 12.4 – 11.4;
Combined C02 emissions in g/km: 39 – 35

Audi Q7:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.3 – 5.7;
Combined C02 emissions in g/km: 183 – 149