Audi will spend nearly half a billion euros over the next 8 years on training staff for the digital age, with steps to develop as well as hire experts such as automotive app-designers and car robotics specialists.
To rein in costs, Audi wants to keep headcount stable, at least over the next 2-3 years, even as it plans to have more than 20 electrified vehicles on the market by 2025 and pushes into digitized mobility services.
With two-thirds of Audi’s 60 or so models by 2025 still slated to be combustion-engine cars, tightening carbon dioxide (CO2) rules will pose the “biggest risk” in coming years, he said, adding that Audi would face 1 billion euros of fines if its average fleet CO2 emissions exceeds EU limits by no more than 11 grams per kilometers.
Audi has overhauled its whistleblower system to allow domestic and international staff to flag illegal conduct more easily and it has set up a permanent investigation office.
Audi plans early next year to dissolve a task force set up to monitor fixes for 850,000 diesel-fueled cars that the automaker said in July needed updates with emissions-control software to help avoid potential driving bans.
