“With Annual Report 2012, we want to show the passion that people have for the Audi brand and how they influence it. Our authors didn’t have to look far: They found what they were looking for right on their doorstep and all over the world,” explains Audi CFO Axel Strotbek. Seventeen stories were created on this journey. Each one of them illustrates another perspective: Board of Management members, employees, brand messengers, sportspeople and customers explain what the Audi brand means to them.
In the first chapter of the Annual Report, the photo expedition “My Audi Moments,” Audi drivers from all over the world explain their connection to the four rings. While the image gallery presents the special connection between the protagonists and their cars, the following chapters – My Perfection, My View, My Passion, My Experience and My Inspiration – contain various other articles from the Audi cosmos.
Rupert Stadler, CEO of AUDI AG, talks to urban planning expert Mark Wigley about the mobility of the future. As well as the American dream and its influence on infrastructure and the urban style of US metropolises, the discussion is also about the Audi Urban Future Initiative and the networking of people and mobility systems. Stadler emphasizes: “It’s only a question of time until cars, buildings and streets communicate with each other.”
In the article about the Audi designers, employees explain how a life-size Audi model is created with craftsmanship, perfectionism and a substance consisting of wax, paraffin oil and micro-fine glass balls. On the basis of this so-called clay model, shapes, proportions and lighting effects can be realistically assessed for the first time in the process of creating a new automobile.
Event highlights of the past year are also covered in the Annual Report: for example, the gala for the 50-year jubilee of Audi Culture. For one day, a factory in Ingolstadt was transformed into a concert hall. Heavy pressing tools made way for a stage upon which renowned musicians such as Till Brönner and Olga Scheps performed for 500 enthusiastic guests.
At the end of the article, readers can access multimedia content via quick-response codes. Once again this year, Audi provides the Annual Report as an app for smartphones and tablets with the operating systems iOS, Android and – for the first time – also for Windows 8. With a version of the infotainment system MMI adapted for the iPad, users can navigate through special highlights. The Audi Annual Report appears in a print run of 100,000 copies and is available in German, English and Chinese. The online version can be accessed at www.audi.com/ar2012.