Audi sells 80,000 BEVs in 2021

MANILA: Audi put its capabilities to the test once again in the challenging fiscal year of 2021. Operating profit and net cash flow for the Audi Group reached new highs. Last year's revenue was approximately €53 billion. The operating profit was €5.5 billion, with a 10.4% operating return on sales. The Audi Group's strong ability to self-finance is demonstrated by its high net cash flow of €7.8 billion. Other drivers of the solid growth performance included good pricing positions, strong residual values, the great performance of Lamborghini and Ducati, and tailwinds from raw material rating and currency effects, in addition to active management of semiconductor scarcity and stringent cost discipline. Audi also persistently pursued its transformative path, increasing battery electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries by 57.5%. The impact of the Ukraine war on the Audi Group's operations cannot yet be determined conclusively.

In a statement, Audi AG Chief Executive Officer Markus Duesmann said, “With its Vorsprung 2030 strategy, Audi has a clear plan for the electric and digital future. Last year, the company impressively showed that we’re on the right path with the transformation of our business model toward CO2-neutral, connected mobility.”

Despite the semiconductor shortage, Audi sold about the same number of vehicles in fiscal year 2021 as last year, however, the brand saw considerable growth in BEVs. Last year, Audi sold a total of 1,680,512 units, almost matching the previous year's figures. Audi raised deliveries by 38.8% to 981,681 vehicles in the first half of the year, thanks to proactive supply management. Despite extensive control measures, the continued high demand in the second half of the year was not able to be fully fulfilled due to persistent semiconductor shortage.

The company's definite path toward electromobility is supported by the increase in BEV deliveries. Audi sold a total of 81,894 fully electric vehicles. The new Q4 e-tron was the top-selling Audi BEV model, with 21,098 units sold. It was followed by the e-tron GT quattro with 6,896 units.

Strong pricing and extremely good market performance of the Q3, Q5, and e-tron product line also contributed to a 6.2% rise in revenue in fiscal year 2021 over the previous year. Audi is proactively reporting in compliance with the new EU taxonomy regulation for the sake of fairness and transparency. When compared to the Audi Group's overall revenue, the EU-taxonomy-compliant revenue reached 12.8%.

The Audi Group had a financial result of €1.43 billion. Its China business contributed €1.14 billion to the financial result. Audi aims to reinforce its strong status in China in the future with the help of its partners FAW and SAIC, particularly in the field of BEVs. Audi plans to increase its electric vehicle lineup in China to more than ten models by 2026. The formation of Audi FAW NEV Company Ltd. with longtime partner FAW is the next key milestone. Audi owns a majority stake in this new joint venture, through which it is mapping a route for expanding its local electric product portfolio and constructing its own new production plant in Changchun for fully electric Audi models based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE). Audi has committed €2.6 billion to the project. Beginning at the end of 2024, the first fully electric models based on the PPE for the Chinese market will roll off the product lines at the new facility.

In addition, the Audi Group's net cash flow surged by over 70% year over year. This is mostly due to higher earnings, which reflect the development of working capital during the semiconductor crisis as well as sustained investment discipline.

Audi will distribute its profits to its employees as a token of appreciation for their hard work in the challenging year of 2021. For specialists at German plants, the Audi profit-sharing bonus for 2021 will be €5,670. This is based on the collective wage agreement's fixed calculation formula, which is geared toward operating profit. Profit-sharing bonuses are likewise governed by regulations at Audi's subsidiary firms.

In the forecast for the reporting year 2022, the Bentley brand was included for the first time due to the consolidation.  Audi, Bentley, Ducati, and Lamborghini will collaborate even more closely in the future as a brand group, with a shared roadmap for electromobility and digital technology. The brand group anticipates synergy potential in the high nine-figure range and has set high goals for itself. It target s to sell more than three million units beginning in 2030. It also aims to achieve an operating return on sales of more than 11%.

“Audi successfully overcame a turbulent year. In a very challenging environment, we showed our financial strengths and set new records in operating profit and net cash flow. Our financial performance proves that we have not only the visionary strength for our ambitious plans, but also the financial strength,” Audi Board Member for Finance and Legal Affairs Jurgen Rittersberger stated.

The Audi Group is optimistic about the current fiscal year, thanks to fully-filled order books and steadily increasing demand, as well as continued success with fixed-cost discipline. While the semiconductor supply situation should improve slightly, the concrete repercussions of the war in Ukraine on the global economy, industry growth, and the Audi Group's earnings, finances, and assets cannot yet be determined clearly. The premium brand group's forecast was published on February 21, therefore, it does not take into account the effects of the Ukraine war.

Between 1,800 and 1,900 units are expected to be sold by the premium brand group. While the good pricing position is retained, revenue is likely to reach between €62 billion and €65 billion. The operating return on sales is estimated to range from 9% to 11%. Because of the slightly higher and thus normalized working capital, as well as increased investment activity, net cash flow is expected to be between €4.5 billion and €5.5 billion euros.

“This year, we’ll focus more strongly on the topics of sustainability, electrification and digitalization, and we’ll start the next stage of our transformational course to 2030, which entails the phasing out of combustion technology, a comprehensive roadmap for electromobility and the establishment of new digital business models and services in collaboration with CARIAD, the software unit owned by the VW Group,” Duesmann said.

Audi is methodically driving the shift to a sustainable business model with defined decisions and ambitious goals. In mid-2021, the company decided to be the first German premium manufacturer to quit the combustion business as part of its corporate strategy Vorsprung 2030.  Audi's goal for gradual decarbonization is to cut vehicle-related CO2-emissions by 40% across the whole value chain (with the exception of locally produced vehicles in China) by 2030, compared to the reference year of 2018.

Audi will reveal the next big step in the expansion of its battery electric lineup with the A6 Avant e-tron concept. The A6 e-tron will be the first flat-bottom vehicle based on the new PPE. As a result, Audi is expanding its electric lineup into a crucial segment and increasing the popularity of electromobility.

Customers are more interested on driving ecosystems that separate themselves from the competition as they migrate to battery electric and automated mobility. Audi is strengthening the run-up to electromobility with comprehensive charging solutions as a first step. With just one charging card, the Audi-owned e-tron Charging Service provides access to over 320,000 charging sites in 26 European countries. In the past three years, the number of charging stations operated by the e-tron Charging Service has more than quadrupled. Furthermore, Audi's premium quick-charging offering has successfully completed its test phase in Nuremberg.

The company targets to expand its data-based business in addition to expanding its charging infrastructure. With the support of strategic partnerships, the VW-Group-owned software company CARIAD is speeding up software development and cultivating specific skills. Audi is also concentrating on cutting-edge digital services. One example is the use of holoride to transform the vehicle into an experience zone with in-car entertainment. This summer, a virtual-reality-based entertainment service will be introduced.

Audi believes that a sustainable business model should be evaluated not just based on environmental requirements, but also on how well it is perceived in terms of social responsibility and corporate governance. As a result, the company designated ESG as a strategic field of action in Vorsprung 2030, and it is incorporating ESG criteria into all company- and product-related decisions. A solid ESG management system is the foundation for this. Audi will not only voluntarily disclose in compliance with the new EU taxonomy regulation, but it will submit to an independent rating agency's ESG rating in the future for more comparability and transparency.

“We want to be outstanding when it comes to ESG performance as well,” Rittersberger stated. “Sustainability being anchored in all business divisions will make Audi robust and fit for the future, and it will increase our company value. It’s about nothing less than our ‘license to thrive.’”

Photos from Audi

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