Today was our last factory tour! It really started to hit me that everything was coming to an end so soon. This day felt so far away at the beginning of the trip, but with our busy schedule time was flying by.
We had a later departure time of 8:30am since we had the Audi talk the prior week. When we arrived for the factory tour, one of the most interesting things I learned was that majority of the people living in the city of Ingolstadt work for Audi or are associated with them in some way. That put into perspective how important the automotive industry is in Germany and how the current situation in the automotive market affects the German image.
I thought the factory tour was very similar to the BMW factory tour. Something I found super cool was how the Audi vehicles being worked on and assembled hung from a conveyer belt on the ceiling. I think at Audi we got to see more of the step-by-step processes completed on the vehicles which I loved. I have close family friends that have loved and driven Audi’s for years, so it was special to share my experience here with them!
People had spoken highly of the lunch selection at the Audi canteen, but it was even more luxurious and delicious than I had imagined. With only a few days left, I splurged and got a salad, schnitzel and fries, a fancy drink, and some fruit. It was by far the best lunch I’d had all trip. After lunch we briefly walked through the museum which was more of a gallery of Audi cars throughout the years. I really enjoyed the BMW museum and sort of wished there was one of similar caliber at Audi, but I also didn’t mind a quick walk-through.
When we got back to the hotel, it was time to finalize my slides in our presentation and focus on what I would say in my speech. At times it was so easy to forget about the presentation entirely, so I tried my best to focus for a couple hours so I could have a fun night!
Our whole group ended up having the best time that night with some of the German students. We stayed up way later than I would have ever let myself normally stay up the night before a presentation, but I had the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.
