A gigafactory of the Audi group in Italy? “A hypothesis that makes sense”. This is how Markus Duesmann, CEO of Audi, answers a direct question from the Sole 24 Ore during a round table in which the leaders of the Premium brand group were present, that is the constellation of top luxury brands which, controlled by the house of the four rings, includes Lamborghini , Bentley and Ducati. In short, the spearhead of the Volkswagen group which, with Ducati and Lamborghini, is strongly rooted in Italy. In the round-table, for the first time, Audi’s luxury hub was presented in full force with Stephan Winkelmann (ceo Lamborghini), Claudio Domenicali (CEO of Ducati). Adrian Hallmark (Bentley CEO).
Returning to the hypothesis of a battery factory in Italy, Duesmann reiterated that the VW group, based on the new industrial plan called Accelerate, aims to build at least six gigafactories by 2030. “We are evaluating the presence in many European countries, including here Italy “. Good news for our country, after all Audi has already invested in Italy, transforming the business and industrial dimensions of Ducati and Lamborghini for over two decades.
Now with the push towards the electric car, which has a great impact on premium brands, it could be a driver for a new industrial presence. After all, the transformation towards the luxury electric car (calling it mobility in the case of brands like Lamborghini and Bentley is a bit ridiculous) requires large investments and the key to succeeding in this transformation, which with the right timing also concerns Ducati and his motorcycles, is to create synergies in a cooperative relationship where the gigafactories, and maybe even an Italian one, will play a crucial role.
Thanks to the collaboration in the group, Audi expects benefits in the order of several million euros for the next few years. The brand group also has ambitious return on sales goals: “Our plan is to achieve a return on sales of more than 11% in the long term from 2030. Until then we will continue to pursue our strategic goal of 9-11%. These are ambitious goals, by which we want to be judged. All the brands in the group are very profitable and have enormous potential, ”Markus Duesmann emphasized.
Audi aims to consolidate the individual strengths characteristic of the individual brands. The individual know-how of the brands is reflected in the models. From the development of Lamborghini-style sports racing cars to the Bentley-style quality of workmanship, to Ducati’s pioneering role in the MotoE World Cup, the world championship of electric motorcycles – the brand group caters to a large and very interesting group of customers. Indeed, the osmosis of technology transfer within the brand group framework reduces complexity for all brands. Common assortment schedules and a clear technology roadmap show the way forward. With different roadmaps, but with the aim of creating a climate-neutral future, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati are moving towards electric mobility. Both Lamborghini and Bentley gave clear signals last year with their billionaire investments in the transformation of the product range. Ducati is also working on electric propulsion and, from 2023, it will be the only manufacturer of motorcycles for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup. The challenge is, however, to create cars that are very different in character and style. So far we have seen Bentley Bentayga, Audi Q8 and Lamborghini Urus models which, while using similar architectures and V8 engines in common, express a different character; however not all components are specific to individual brands. In particular in the user interface and in the commands where through the customization of the software I will be able to do more especially because with electrification the risk of performance homologation is high and here technologies in electric motors and, once again, the software come into play. as a tool to differentiate.