Year of Audi 2009

The remarkable products in the Audi line-up superbly illustrate that we can build what our customers want and need, while improving fuel efficiency, performance, dynamics, design - all the attributes for which we are known and admired. That especially applies to our clean diesel technology. Our clean diesel message is gaining momentum with the "Di*esel is Not A Dirty Word" campaign, our TDI presence at the Emmy awards, the profile of our TDI technology on the Discovery Channel's "How It's Made" program and with the launch of the A3 TDI at the end of 2009.


In the recently completed Efficiency Challenge A to B, which covered 2,500 miles from Norway to Italy under all applicable daily driving conditions, an A3 equipped with a 1.6-liter clean diesel engine achieved a rating of 94.2 mpg. An A4 with a 2.0-liter TDI - an engine very similar to what we offer customers in the U.S. version of the A3 TDI - achieved an astounding 74 mpg. Clean diesel is an easy story to communicate to the public because it is the truth. Clean diesel engines are universally recognized as green alternatives by every notable environmental organization, and the Audi R15 TDI, competing in the American Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta very recently won the Michelin Green Challenge for racing the farthest and the fastest with the smallest impact on the environment.
- Johan de Nysschen, Audi USA CEO




Audi at Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, an event that began in 1923 in Sarthe, France, saw the 1999 debut of the Audi R8R, the progenitor of one of the world's most successful sports prototype racecar, the R8 of the following year.

The Le Mans race is the oldest endurance race in the world, conceived to showcase the ability of an automobile manufacturer to build cars that are reliable enough to last under continuous punishment from roads that are normally open to the public year-round. The course is eight-and-a-half miles in length, and is shaped like a giant backwards "D", with the northernmost corner called Tertre Rouge turning south onto a three-and-a-half mile-long straight to the village of Mulsanne. The idea for the long straight was to showcase a car's ability to maintain fast top speeds as well as endurance. The straight is now divided between two chicanes that force cars to slow briefly for safety, yet is famous for incredible top speeds of 250-mph. Average speeds of a lap of the long circuit are about 150 mph for competitive cars today.

In 1998, Audi announced it would compete at the Le Mans race with a V8-powered gasoline R8R, an open-top roadster, and the car finished in third place after leading cars from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Toyota suffered accidents. Audi's R8 debuted in 2000, and dominated the race for the first half of the first decade of the 21st century. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Audi's groundbreaking turbodiesel racer, the R10 V-12, won the race, despite strong competition from Peugeot, the notable French automaker. This year the new R15 will again face formidable competition from Peugeot, including two Peugeots entered by Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo, whose motorsports company is based at the Le Mans circuit.

Three of the new Audi R15 TDI sports prototype cars will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, which has been won by the R8 five times and by the R10 TDI the past three consecutive years. In the first of these wins, in 2000, R8s finished 1, 2, and 3. Nine of the last ten Sebring 12-hour contests have been won by R8, R10, or R15 Audis. Only legendary sports car makers Porsche and Ferrari have had more wins at Le Mans. These battles were made famous worldwide by actor Steve McQueen's film Le Mans in 1971. Most recently, Audi produced a documentary, Truth in 24, depicting the dramatic battle between Audi and Peugeot at the 2008 Le Mans race, which was voted top documentary at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in 2008.

"Audi has been an engineering oriented company since forever," says Johan de Nysschen, President, Audi of America. By racing at the technologically demanding 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi is "shaping the brand by creating a heritage of technological improvements that lets customers identify with a winner."

Audi drivers include Tom Kristensen, who has won more 24 Hours of Le Mans races than any driver in history (eight), as well as Allan McNish's extensive Formula One development testing that began in 1991, and Dindo Capello's fifteen years of championships in Italian touring car and open-wheel formula car racing.


Introducing TDI:

The future of progressive power through clean diesel is here. More power, more efficiency, and more performance. It's what TDI clean diesel technology is all about.

50 million people can't be wrong.

With its remarkable power and efficiency, it's no wonder Europeans have embraced diesel - and for good reason. With fuel prices more than twice as high as those in the United States, efficiency is a critical consideration. And yet, spirited performance is still extremely important. So it's no wonder Audi has been leading the charge of diesel cars in Europe with TDI since 1989. And now, with years of success and millions of satisfied motorists in Europe, drivers here in the United States will get to enjoy the same TDI efficiency and performance with the new Audi A3 TDI.

Performance done correctly is clean, powerful and quiet. And nothing does that better than the most successful fuel efficiency technology in the world, Audi TDI clean diesel technology. Since Audi began production of the diesel engine 20 years ago, TDI has continued to extend its technological advantage over traditional diesel engines by increasing torque by 70%. In turn, this increases horsepower all while being 95% cleaner and reducing emissions by 98%.

There's no better way to prove technology than to put what you believe in into a racecar. We did that with our TDI diesel powered Audi R10. We knew that TDI clean diesel was fast. We just needed to prove it to the rest of the world. And we did that by winning the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans three consecutive times with TDI in 2006, 2007 and 2008. We wanted to prove that TDI diesel power was reliable. And it is. During the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Audi R10 TDI diesel engine never failed. We wanted to prove that TDI clean diesel power is more efficient. And it is. With a drop of diesel fuel containing more stored energy than a drop of gasoline, the Audi R10 exploited that enjoying more MPG, requiring four fewer pit stops than its closest competitor.

Now that we have nothing left to prove to the competition on the track, we want to prove that TDI clean diesel technology is even better on the street. For example, the Audi A3 TDI delivers powerful off-the-line low-end torque and fuel efficiency that reached the 44 MPG mark during the 2008 Audi Mileage Marathon, which pushed the performance envelope of TDI clean diesel technology from New York to Los Angeles.

TDI clean diesel technology makes the most of every drop of fuel. And that means going farther on every tank, not to mention, fewer stops at the gas station. For example, the Audi Q7 TDI will enjoy an estimated 17 MPG in the city, 25 MPG on the highway along with a range of over 600 highway miles. In fact, during the 2008 Audi Mileage Marathon, the Audi Q7 averaged 27 MPG on the highway. It's a dramatic demonstration of TDI clean diesel technology in a vehicle segment not normally known for efficiency.

We never look at technological innovation from the standpoint of what's possible. Instead, we start from a position of what we want to be possible. And it's that approach that's led us to completely redefine what it means to be powerful, efficient and clean. It's a remarkable culmination of everything Audi stands for. It's TDI clean diesel technology and it's here and it's ready.