German luxury brand Audi has just disclosed its electric vehicle production strategy under the catchphrase ‘360factory’. To put it simply, the automaker aims to produce electrically driven models at all of its manufacturing facilities across the world by the end of this decade.
Now, Electrek reports that all of Audi’s global production facilities are already being renovated to produce electric vehicles as it starts to phase out gas car offerings by 2033.
Audi’s electrification progress
The e-Tron is Audi’s first pure electric car delivered to customers starting in 2019. Its range was substantially updated in 2021 with a cheaper price point.
Thereafter, the e-Tron S, e-Tron GT, e-Tron Sportback, Q4 e-Tron, and Q8 e-Tron joined the automaker’s EV portfolio.
Due to strong market demand, Audi raised sales of fully electric vehicles by 53.8% during the first nine months of 2022.
Audi equips its global factories for 100% EV production
Audi announced its plans to produce all-electric vehicles by the end of this decade in a press release on December 20. However, Audi must first equip its global factories to handle electric vehicle production.
“Step by step, we are bringing all our sites into the future. The path Audi is taking conserves resources and accelerates our transformation to a provider of sustainable premium mobility. We don’t want any standalone lighthouse projects on greenfield sites. Instead, we are investing in our existing plants so they end up being just as efficient and flexible as newly built production sites or greenfield plants.”
Gerd Walker, Audi board member for production and logistics
Audi’s strategy is unique from its rivals as it will try to integrate the upgraded features of these new innovative plants into its existing operations rather than constructing new facilities.
Main objective
Audi’s production strategy intends to reduce the annual plant expenditures by 50% from 2033, supporting its plan to abandon producing ICE models.
Remarkably, the automaker will achieve this by utilizing tools like Edge Cloud 4 Production to further modernize and optimize its production operations. To put it simply, Audi claims that less expensive industrial PCs will save IT expenditures associated with software updates and OS upgrades.
“We want to structure both product and production so we get the optimum benefit for our customers.”
Gerd Walker, Audi board member for production and logistics
Numerous manufacturers are redesigning their manufacturing infrastructures as the switch to electric vehicles advances. Audi is now in a position to commit to electrification as it became aware of its prospects as an automaker.
As previously stated, the company has declared that it will only start selling electric vehicles (EVs) in 2026. This decision was probably influenced by the EU’s stringent new Euro 7 pollution requirements, scheduled to take effect in 2025.
