German carmaker Audi aims to drive transformation with ESG efforts

Audi has long been known as a trailblazer, from its groundbreaking design language to its legendary Quattro, so the brand with the iconic four rings is synonymous with progress.

The German premium carmaker's progressive vision goes beyond its products. The Ingolstadt-based company is convinced that business success is inextricably linked with shouldering social and ecological responsibility.

That explains its strong commitment to becoming the leading provider of sustainable premium mobility, which is about more than electrification and CO2 emissions reduction.

As part of its global "Vorsprung 2030" strategy, Audi has introduced an ESG management system. ESG stands for environment, social and governance. It is playing a role in all the company's corporate decisions as well as its products and services, the carmaker said.

Environment commitment

Although CO2 reduction is not the sole focus of Audi's sustainability commitment, the carmaker has set ambitious climate change and resource conservation goals for itself.

Audi wants to achieve companywide net carbon neutrality by 2050. To realize this, Audi has implemented the Mission: Zero environmental program under which it is introducing measures to reduce its ecological footprint in production and logistics.

In China, the carmaker is following the philosophy of "green production" and "green partner".

Together with its joint ventures, Audi China has established an energy-saving and environmental planning system, which penetrates every procedure across the entire value chain, and each manufacturing plant has its own sustainability highlights.

For example, 95.9 percent of production water is recycled at its Tianjin plant. All electricity used at its plants in Foshan, Guangdong province, and Anting in Shanghai is from renewable resources.

The Audi FAW NEV Company, which laid its cornerstone in June, will be a net carbon-neutral production site when it is fully operational.

As the first all-electric Audi plant in China, it will use 100 percent green power for production, with part of its electricity needs fulfilled by a photovoltaic system on the factory's roof.

A membrane bioreactor is being installed, which will enable a high recycling rate for water.

Audi China's Logistics Department has launched LOGISTICS, an upgraded product shipping and packaging solution that helps reduce carbon emissions with environmentally friendly packaging.

In 2021, the LOGISTICS project reduced plastic film packaging by one-third compared with the previous year. The annual usage of Styrofoam fell by 36 percent, from 48 to 30.5 metric tons, and wood usage reached 8 tons compared with 24 tons in the previous year.

Care is also taken to ensure that the handling of imported vehicles at Audi's three major import vehicle harbors in Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou in Guangdong province follows the Mission: Zero program.

All three harbors at present use clean energy. Audi China's Harbor Team has begun to replace all gasoline harbor fleet cars with electric Audi e-trons.

Earlier this year, new energy-storage charging piles from Shanghai Du-power New Energy Technical Co were installed at all of Audi's import harbors in China to provide about 200 kilowatts of high-speed charging for imports and harbor fleet cars.

The Audi China Quality Assurance Team has built an internal digital platform, including a mobile app, personal computer webpage and back-end system, which takes workflow automation to a new level and promotes a paperless office.

Social responsibility

Audi's commitment to environmental protection also extends to programs that benefit society. With its "In China, for China" focus, Audi is committed to supporting the development of Chinese society as a responsible corporate citizen.

In cooperation with Volkswagen Group China, Audi China will plant around 8.5 million trees in 10 ecologically vulnerable areas in provinces and autonomous regions such as Gansu, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia between 2021 and 2030.

The initiative not only aims to restore the ecological environment, but also benefits the local community socially and economically. As the first step of the project, around 850,000 trees were planted in Gulang county, Wuwei city, Gansu province, in 2021.

Earlier this year, 850,000 trees were planted on 4 million square meters of barren hills in Huzhu Tu autonomous county in Haidong city, Qinghai province.

Promoting the development of Chinese youth is another focus of Audi's corporate social responsibility efforts. The company held the "Horizon's Beyond" Audi China Innovation Incubator in July for entrepreneurial students from a broad range of disciplines.

The three-week event saw 18 Master's and PhD students envision mobility in 2035.

The students presented their ideas for new vehicle concepts and technologies to a jury of Audi managers and technical experts, which saw the winning team take home the "Horizon's Beyond Prize".

Governance and shared values

Audi said the foundation for its "Vorsprung 2030" strategy is the company's shared value system.

Across all organizational levels, the corporate values of appreciation, openness, trust and integrity, are the mainstays of the company's culture and are driving its next stages of development.

People, whether it be customers, employees, or society at large, are always at the core, said the carmaker.

Since 2020, Audi has published a combined annual and sustainability report to make its financial and ESG results available to all stakeholders. It will also have its ESG performance rated by an independent rating agency.

This further demonstrates Audi's commitment to conduct its business in the interests of all its stakeholders, in a value-oriented, responsible and sustainable way.

It is convinced that the holistic strategy will enable it to become a sustainable, social, and technological leader by 2030.