The Audi group, which includes Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati, delivered 1,638,638 cars, including 1,614,231 units of Audi brand cars and 61,562 motorbikes in 2022.
Meanwhile, Bentley celebrated a new delivery record for the third time in a row, delivering 15,174 vehicles in CY22 (14,659), the British brand exceeding its previous record by 3.5% and significantly increasing revenue to € 3,384 million. While Lamborghini delivered 9,233, with sales increasing by 21.9% to € 2,375 million.
With this, Audi Group’s revenue rose by 16.4% YoY to € 61.8 billion while operating profit climbed nearly 40% to an all-time high of € 7.6 billion. The operating margin rose from last year’s 10.4% to 12.2%, and net cash flow reached € 4.8 billion, the second-highest figure in the company’s history.
Markus Duesmann, CEO, Audi AG, noted that the company is directly feeling the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – primarily due to energy shortages, supply bottlenecks and the challenging geopolitical situation.
Jürgen Rittersberger, Member of Board, Audi AG, said, “We responded to the challenges of 2022 consistently and by taking active countermeasures. These factors and the great dedication of our entire team have made it possible to announce a strong financial performance.”
The group foresees, subject to the supply situation and global economic performance, that it will continue to see positive developments in 2023. Deliveries of group models to customers are expected to be between 1.8 and 1.9 million cars, while revenue is expected to reach a new record level of between € 69 billion and € 72 billion. The operating margin is expected to be between 9% and 11%, assuming car prices remain high.
Duesmann said, “Demand for e-mobility remains high. In January and February 2023, our sales of all-electric vehicles worldwide were up almost 40% compared to the same months last year. February also marked the launch of the Q8 e-tron in most European countries. We have some 20,000 pre-orders on the books, confirming that demand for sustainable electric mobility is booming.”
Sustainability On Focus
Interestingly, with an increase of around 44% in deliveries of fully electric cars to 118,196 vehicles, the group is systematically continuing its electrification strategy. The persistent, strong demand for electric vehicles increased the share of fully electric vehicles delivered from 4.8% in the previous year to 7.2%.
With the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) launch, Audi is emphasising its commitment to becoming the leading provider of connected, fully electric premium mobility. Developed with Porsche, the platform is a key component for expanding Audi’s global range of electric cars. The future Q6 e-tron model series, the Group’s first production model based on the PPE, will be unveiled in the second half of 2023.
A press release from Audi noted that the fully electric Audi Q4 e-tron, e-tron GT Quattro and e-tron models significantly contributed significantly, as did revenue from the Audi A3 and Q5 model series.
The company's CEO noted that Audi is on the verge of the biggest product initiative in its history. By 2025, the company will have launched around 20 new models, more than ten of which will be all-electric.
“We have set the course to go 100% electric. By 2027, we seek to offer an all-electric vehicle in each core segment. We recently decided to launch an additional electric entry-level model below the Audi Q4 e-tron as well,” he said.
The group began voluntarily reporting its EU taxonomy figures in the 2021 fiscal year. Measured against the Audi Group’s total revenue, the share of EU-taxonomy-aligned revenue rose to € 8.3 billion, equivalent to 13.5%, compared to 2021’s € 6.8 billion, which was 12.8% of the total revenue. This includes revenue from the sale of fully electric vehicles, with an increase of 49%, which marks another milestone on the Audi brand’s e-roadmap. Thus, the company emphasises the importance of the ESG sustainability criteria anchored in its Vorsprung 2030 strategy.
From 2023 to 2027, the company will invest two-thirds of its outlays, or around € 28 billion, in the future fields of electrification and digitalisation. “Our focus on sustainable goals will shape our actions in the short, medium, and long term. The future investments from the current planning round confirm this clear path,” the CEO said.
In positioning itself for a sustainable future, the group is also building its automotive value chain based on the circular economy. Audi aims to steadily increase the share of recycled materials in the Audi fleet over the next few years. In turn, this will enable the company to reduce its models’ environmental footprint.
Direct access to secondary materials is also likely to help improve long-term supply security. Together with 15 partners from the research, recycling, and supplier sectors, the brand with the four rings launched the MaterialLoop pilot project in October 2022. The company and the project partners are investigating reusing materials from cars that have reached the end of their life cycle to produce new vehicles; around 100 end-of-life vehicles have already been dismantled.
Duesmann said, “We are acutely aware of our responsibility in dealing with resources. That’s why the circular economy plays such an important role for us. In the future, we will recycle secondary materials from end-of-life vehicles back into the production of our cars. As part of our MaterialLoop pilot project, we are working with suppliers, recycling companies and academic partners to upskill in this area.”
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