Former President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A to assume control of Audi high performance subsidiary with effect from March 15

• Audi Board of Management Chairman Stadler: “Winkelmann’s experience will contribute to the ongoing growth of the sporty subsidiary in Neckarsulm.”
• Stefan Knirsch, Board of Management Member for Technical Development: “Heinz Hollerweger has been a catalyst for innovation and Audi’s path into electric mobility.”

Ingolstadt/Neckarsulm, February 23, 2016 – As of March 15, 2016, Stephan Winkelmann (51) will be the new CEO of quattro GmbH, a 100-percent subsidiary of AUDI AG, which produces and distributes the high performance R and RS models. Winkelmann was President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. since January 1, 2005. Heinz Hollerweger (62), the current Head of quattro GmbH, is to retire after almost 40 years of successful work for Audi. “With his experience from more than eleven years in charge of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann will be a key contributor to the further growth of quattro GmbH,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

quattro GmbH includes the Audi Sport brand with customer motorsport, the development and distribution of the R and RS models, the accessories of the Audi Sport collection and the car-customizing services of Audi exclusive. In the future, the Audi Sport brand is to be positioned more clearly.

As CEO of Lamborghini, Winkelmann was responsible for substantial investment in the future of the company from 2005 onwards. He developed Lamborghini into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of super sports cars. In 2015, the brand with the raging bull achieved a new record with deliveries of 3,245 units. Lamborghini is also a pioneer in the field of automotive lightweight construction and in the development of innovative carbon-fibre technologies.

As of 2018, Lamborghini will produce a third model series for the first time, which will be made alongside the Huracán and Aventador models at its site in Sant’Agata Bolognese: a highly sporty SUV. Winkelmann also pushed forward with the expansion of Lamborghini’s sales organisation. Under his leadership, the number of Lamborghini dealerships has tripled in the last decade. This year, the brand with the raging bull celebrates the 100th birthday of the company’s founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini.

In May 2014, Winkelmann was presented by President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano with the Grand Cross, the country’s highest order of merit, for his achievements as CEO of one of the most important Italian companies. Before Winkelmann became CEO of Lamborghini in 2005, he was the Board of Management Chairman of Fiat Auto Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Stephan Winkelmann succeeds Heinz Hollerweger (62), who will be retiring. “Heinz Hollerweger has been one of the catalysts for Audi’s path into electric mobility,” stated Stefan Knirsch, Board of Management Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG. “He also contributed decisively to the success and expansion of quattro GmbH.” The Audi subsidiary’s sales increased in 2015 by 13 percent to more than 17,000 units.

Hollerweger also achieved a lot with the development of Audi Sport, which includes the brand‟s sporting activities such as customer motorsport under the label of Audi Sport customer racing, the R and RS models, and the accessories of the Audi Sport collection.

Heinz Hollerweger was born in Austria and started his career at Audi in Ingolstadt in the area of acoustics in 1977. Twelve years later, he moved to the Audi site in Neckarsulm as head of acoustics, and returned to Ingolstadt three years afterwards as head of vehicle inspections. From 1997 until 2005, he was responsible for the area of vehicle physics. After that, he was in charge of overall vehicle development. In that position, he was responsible for numerous show cars that later went into series production, such as the Audi Q5 custom concept, predecessor of the successful Audi SQ5.

Furthermore, Hollerweger coordinated the entire test activities of the Technical Development division. During his time as head of overall vehicle development, more than 70 models were developed to series maturity.

Hollerweger has been one of the catalysts of electric mobility. With the R8 e-tron, he and his team designed a sensational electric super sports car for the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2011: a powerful sports car with electric drive, the first test vehicle of its kind. It was later developed to series maturity at quattro GmbH.

In April 2014, Hollerweger became Head of quattro GmbH, where his responsibilities included the expansion of the RS portfolio and the development of the new Audi R8. In addition to the “Golden Steering Wheel 2015” in the sports car category and the “Auto Trophy 2015,” the Audi R8 also received numerous awards for its connectivity and is regarded as the benchmark for its segment in this respect. quattro GmbH was also highly successful with the R8 LMS in 2015, winning all of the renowned GT3 races worldwide.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

Double victory for the most advanced Audi saloon ever, securing even more industry acclaim

• Audi A4 Saloon is picked as the overall number one in the Contract Hire and Leasing Car of the Year 2015 Awards
• Executive Car of the Year also awarded to the Audi compact executive
• A4 Avant now also available to order, soon to be joined by the latest A4 allroad quattro and S model variants boasting up to 354PS

Appreciably more accomplished, significantly more intelligent and now multi-award winning – the widely lauded Audi A4 has added the top Car of the Year accolade in the Contract Hire and Leasing Awards for 2015 to its already impressive cache of honours. The all-new compact executive star also secured the Compact Executive Car category award as part of the annual review of star cars conducted by respected UK car finance site ContractHireandLeasing.com.

Citing its 'sharp looks, improved driving dynamics, greater efficiency', and in particular applauding the 'stunning' Virtual Cockpit, the judges added: “The A4 has what it takes to edge ahead of its incredibly talented rivals. In this competitive segment, praise doesn’t come any higher.

“Any car good enough to beat such talented opponents would always be in the running for the overall win, but the A4’s success was ensured by its strong residuals and appealing lease deals.”

The new A4 continues a legacy that can be traced back as far as the Audi 80, which laid the groundwork for the brand’s reputation for exceptional quality and solidity, as well as its rise to prominence in the UK premium segment. Since then, consistent technological breakthroughs and advances in refinement have characterised the Audi best-seller. This all-new model is the greatest example of Vorsprung durch Technik yet, underscored by a vast array of driver assistance and safety systems, intelligent construction methods and infotainment options that are benchmark in the class.

Katie Purcell, Audi UK Product Manager for A4, commented: “To put it simply, everything about the A4 is new except the name, so it is enormously gratifying to see the exceptional effort a ground-up redesign like this entails being acknowledged by important awards like these. The fact that our wins are also based on the strength of the A4’s accessibility from a financial perspective makes them all the more valued.”

Available to order now with a combination of TFSI and TDI engines that break new ground in terms of sophistication, performance and running costs, the latest A4 saloon can also be specified with a raft of innovative options, from Matrix LED headlights to Audi traffic jam assist and a Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system, making this the most technologically advanced Audi saloon to date. Prices start from £25,900 OTR for the 150PS 1.4 TFSI six-speed manual, rising to £40,350 OTR for the 272PS V6 TDI Avant with quattro and eight-speed tiptronic transmission.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

First UK deliveries of the best-selling Audi Avant are now underway, bringing more space, more technology and more versatility.

• New A4 Avant models available to order now priced from £27,300 OTR
• UK deliveries began in January - 1.4 TFSI examples expected from April 2016
• Class-leading 505 litres of seats-up luggage capacity, with a power operated tailgate and electrically retracting luggage cover as standard on all models
• Standard equipment highlights include 17-inch alloy wheels, Xenon or LED headlights with LED DRLs, Audi smartphone interface, Audi drive select, three-zone climate control and 7-inch colour MMI monitor
• Technology options include the Audi virtual cockpit, Matrix LED headlights and numerous new driver assistance systems
• Wide four and six-cylinder engine range with outputs from 150PS to 272PS
• Line-up includes new 2.0 TFSI with revolutionary combustion system and 2.0 TDI ultra efficiency champion with CO2 from 104g/km in SE and Sport models
• All-new platform and redeveloped six-speed manual, seven-speed S tronic and eight-speed tiptronic transmissions

Space may be the final frontier, but for customers exploring the all-new, and newly available, Audi A4 Avant it is likely to be one of the first and foremost considerations. Fortunately the five-door version of What Car? Magazine’s 2016 Car of the Year proves to be a star in this respect, offering the most expansive seats-up luggage capacity in the premium compact executive sector to complement the quality, technological ingenuity and optimal efficiency for which the A4 is already renowned.

The even more versatile A4 can now be ordered at prices ranging from £27,300 OTR to £40,350 OTR, and retention of these original values is likely to be another important consideration for prospective purchasers. Here, too, the A4 Avant doesn’t disappoint, with leading trade guide CAP Monitor predicting that the majority of versions will achieve residual values that are either strongest in the premium compact estate class or unbeaten in the class. As an example the A4 Avant 2.0 TDI ultra Sport 190PS – the expected best-seller in the range – is predicted to retain 40 per cent of its value after three years or 60,000 miles, ahead of its key premium sector rivals.

Class-leading luggage capacity

The all-new A4 Avant intelligently integrates a class-leading 505 litres of luggage capacity – extending to 1,510 litres with the seats folded – into a capacious interior that now affords even more head and shoulder room for front seat occupants and offers an increase in overall rear leg room compared to its predecessor.

All this can be enjoyed in remarkably hushed tones thanks to numerous aerodynamic and aeroacoustic advances, and in surroundings that exude a degree of quality and technological sophistication that far exceeds even the outgoing car, which was renowned in its own right for its outstanding fit and finish.

All-digital Audi virtual cockpit

Among the technological highlights are the optional Audi virtual cockpit with its fully digital, absolutely flicker-free display, and optional Matrix LED headlamps capable of establishing and tracking multiple road users and illuminating the appropriate corridors of lights either side of them to maintain maximum visibility without dazzling other drivers.

Highlights of the options list also include a 19-speaker, 755-watt Bang & Olufsen audio system with 3D sound, Audi Entertainment mobile incorporating two detachable touch-screen tablet computers built into the rear seats, the Audi phone box bringing two separate Bluetooth connections and wireless smartphone charging* and MMI Navigation plus with a larger 8.3-inch monitor complemented by the MMI Touch fingertip-responsive touchpad built into the rotary controller.

These can be added to the three ‘core’ specification levels SE, Sport and S line, each of which offers either Xenon or LED headlamps with LED daytime running lights, along with features including three-zone climate control, cruise control, rear parking sensors and the Audi smartphone interface, which supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto platforms and displays smartphone contact and information such as navigation mapping on the A4’s seven-inch colour MMI screen.

There are also plenty of premium features that greatly enhance everyday use, particularly in the Avant which offers powered tailgate operation and an electrically operated luggage cover as standard.

Helped by outstanding drag coefficients of as little as 0.26 and a weight advantage of as much as 120kg compared with its predecessor, the all-new A4 Avant is appreciably more refined and up to 21 per cent more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

The Avant engine line-up will initially include a wide choice of 2.0 litre and 3.0-litre TDI engines with outputs starting from 150PS and rising to 272PS. The refined and responsive 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine at the entry point to the A4 Saloon range will also become available to Avant customers slightly behind the first phase in April 2016.

Twelve ultra variants

As in the Saloon, two versions of the 2.0-litre TDI engine with 150PS and 190PS power a total of 12 front-wheel-driven ‘ultra’ variants offering up to 70.6mpg with CO2 output of as little as 104g/km – their frugality can be enjoyed in conjunction with both SE and Sport specification incorporating 17-inch alloy wheel designs.

The V6 TDI contingent starts with the 218PS version which played such a key role in securing What Car? Magazine’s Car of the Year Award for the saloon – here it returns up to 64.2mpg with a 114g/km CO2 output when combined with Sport specification and front-wheel-drive.

To fully exploit the economy potential of this absolutely up-to-the minute engine technology, the powertrain and chassis of the A4 Avant have also been completely redeveloped. The six-speed manual transmission, the seven-speed S tronic twin-clutch (now also available for front-wheel drive) and the eight-speed tiptronic have been reworked, and in the process the automatic transmissions have incorporated a fuel-saving freewheeling function.

The inherent agility of the A4 Avant with its completely new platform incorporating sophisticated five-link fully independent front and rear suspension can be amplified further by adding a more intelligent and faster-reacting evolution of quattro all-wheel-drive as an option for 2.0 TDI 190 and 3.0 TDI 218 engines. The purely mechanical system with its self-locking centre differential is also a standard feature of the 2.0 TFSI 252PS and 3.0 TDI 272PS versions.

All models are available with suspension in either a comfort-focused state of tune or with a tauter and more sporting set-up – the latter is standard for S line versions but can be ‘deselected’ in favour of comfort suspension at no extra cost. For even greater emphasis on dynamic ability it is also possible to specify a dynamic steering system which varies its ratio according to speed and steering angle and adaptive damper control with a ‘sport’ bias for all versions. Adaptive damper control with a ‘comfort’ set-up favouring suppleness can also be specified for all versions bar the ultra models, which are exclusively equipped with sports suspension.

Where these options are fitted, their operating characteristics are configurable via the Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system, which is a standard feature across the range. Its Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, Efficiency and Individual modes also have a bearing on the response of the throttle, the shift points of the automatic transmissions if specified and the weighting of the steering.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

Latest Audi compact executive not only tops the billing in its category along with the new TT Coupé but is also voted overall Car of the Year

• Audi A4 Saloon is named What Car? Car of the Year 2016
• 3.0 TDI 218PS model also takes home the award for best compact executive car
• ‘Best Buy’ awards in the ‘£25,000 - £35,000’ and the ‘More than £35,000’ categories also go to the Audi A4 Saloon
• Win for TT Coupé takes total number of What Car? Coupé category awards across the generations to eight
• Multitude of Best Buy class wins also achieved by a broad cross section of the Audi range

The compact executive saloon which has played a pivotal role in the success story of Audi across five generations has been richly rewarded with one of the automotive industry’s most highly prized awards: the all-new Audi A4 Saloon is What Car? Magazine’s Car of the Year for 2016. The compelling newcomer took the top honour, along with the Best Compact Executive Car category award, at the magazine’s annual presentation event, staged last night in London. The latest TT also notched up its second award in the Coupé category, and in the process took the total number of category trophies bestowed by What Car? on the three generations of the much loved Audi sports car to eight.

In the What Car? awards issue the magazine’s road test team praises the advances made by the all-new mid-size saloon, and singles out the mid-range 218PS V6 TDI model with its six-cylinder sophistication and remarkable frugality as the version which secures the top honour.

In its awards citations for the A4 the road test team points to the new ground that has been broken by the latest A4 as a key contributor to its win, writing: “Audi deserves congratulations for the new A4. It brings new standards of refinement, interior quality and technology to the compact executive class.”

Manners like an A8

According to the New European Driving Cycle its fuel consumption is around one kilogram of hydrogen per 100 kilometres (62.1 miles). The Audi h tron quattro concept achieves not merely zero local emissions, but zero global emissions if the hydrogen it runs on has been produced with green power. The brand with the four rings realises this at the Audi e gas facility in North Germany.

The team goes on to applaud the benefits the new A4 reaps from a multitude of cutting edge aerodynamic, aeroacoustic and operating efficiency measures which are brought into especially sharp relief in the V6 versions: “With fuel economy and CO2 emissions barely any worse than those of smaller-engined models, the A4 3.0 TDI 218 is the most impressive car we’ve tried of late. It’s only fractionally less efficient than the 2.0 TDI 190 model (officially and in the real world), and delivers the sort of creamy performance and whisper-quiet driving manners that would shame some luxury limos. Put simply, it feels more like a baby A8 than a 3 Series rival.”

The impressive showing for Audi, which began with a total of 14 category nominations, also includes an award that has become something of a tradition – the Coupé class accolade for the latest TT. This is the newcomer’s second from What Car?, but collectively the three generations of the acclaimed sports car have been honoured by the magazine a total of eight times, underscoring the enduring appeal of this Vorsprung durch Technik brand hallmark.

The What Car? team succinctly pinpointed the reasons for the TT’s evergreen appeal by writing: “Yes, there are plenty of other sleek-looking offerings in this class, but all of them demand some form of compromise from you – either in the way they drive, how easy they are to live with or how much they’ll cost you to buy and run. In contrast, the TT is not just the best coupé on the market, it’s one of the best cars you can buy, full stop.”

Commenting on this important recognition for the scope of the advances made by the all-new A4, Director of Audi UK Andre Konsbruck said: “ The compact executive class is arguably still the hub of the market in terms of the sheer pace and scale of progress, so for the A4 to be ranked most highly in this environment is gratifying enough in itself; for it then to be elevated above every other car the What Car? team tested last year is a truly momentous achievement of which we are all extremely proud.”

He went on to acknowledge the What Car? editorial team’s unerring support of the TT: “For a title such as What Car? that is so inherently trusted and respected in its judgement to be so firmly and consistently behind one of our cornerstone models is an incredible endorsement that is highly valued by Audi UK,” he said. “The TT has won an outright category or price point award, and mainly the former, for the past ten years and that’s a run of success to which only a very select few models can lay claim.”

Article source: www.audi.co.uk