We had another early morning where we meet at 7:15 to head to our first OEM Audi. I was very excited to visit this company as I love their company and cars. We were fortunate enough to be able to go to the actual headquarters of the company (Ingolstadt, Germany) even though are multiple Audi factories located in Germany.
Once we arrived we split into two groups to visit the museum and go on a factory tour. My group went to the museum first which had three different floors for three different time periods. We started at the top floor which was for when the company first began in 1899. On this floor they had various cars ranging in styles. My friends and I also found a working tv and jukebox that we found really cool. Another major fact I learned during the tour was what the four rings in the Audi logo. Each ring stands for one of the original companies that combined together to form what is now Audi.
On the top two floors the cars were remotely similar to each other, however, the last floor was completely different from the previous two floors. The cars shown on the last floor were in my words cars of the future. They were electric and autonomous vehicles which are just starting to show up in today’s market. There was one car in particular that was the most futuristic. It was fully autonomous, there wasn’t even a steering wheel or gas pedals.
After finishing up in the museum, we went on a tour of the factory. Sadly, phones are not allowed in the factor and we had to lock them up to ensure that we don’t post any information that can hurt Audi as they are in a very competitive industry. We were able to see the process of making a car from start to finish. We learned that Audi produces about 2,000 cars per day which takes 24 hours to produce, therefore the machines and assembly line have to work 24 hours and only have Sundays off. This may seem like extreme measurements, but Audi provides the best health policy and working conditions to encourage their workers to make their best products. It was insane to see how a car is assembled start to finish.
Once the factory tour was over we went to an hour long presentation and Q&A. The main focus of this presentation was the future of Audi. They talked about they are pushing to do their part in having a sustainable planet. Audi has a goal of going fully electric by 2026 and getting rid of traditional ICEs. They are also exploring the idea of hydrogen fuel cells but are more pushing towards electrical as, like other companies have said, hydrogen fuel cells are more ideal for long distance trucks than a day to day car.
I was very excited to see a car be made and explore Audi, especially as this is my company for this program.
