Commitment and environment

Audi environmental program Mission:Zero encourages more environmental protection

Mission:Zero is Audi’s environmental program for consistently sustainable production. It bundles all the company’s activities and measures for reducing the ecological footprint at Audi sites worldwide in Production and Logistics. The focus is on Audi’s key challenges of decarbonization, sustainable water use, resource efficiency, and biodiversity protection. One key objective is to achieve net carbon-neutral¹ production locations by 2025.

Net carbon-neutral production site: After Brussels (Belgium, 2018) and Győr (Hungary, 2020), Audi Ingolstadt is the third Audi plant to manufacture under net carbon-neutral conditions since the beginning of 2024. Audi has been producing cars in Ingolstadt exclusively with green electricity since 2012. In addition, solar panels have been installed there on an area of approximately 23,000 square meters. As another measure, nearby industrial facilities supply the location with net carbon-neutral waste heat, for example, from a neighboring refinery and the municipal waste recycling plant. This allows the site to meet almost all its energy needs from renewable sources. Thanks to its energy management, the location was also able to save more than 34,800 megawatt hours of energy and avoid over 4,560 tons of carbon emissions in 2023. Any emissions that Audi cannot yet avoid (a maximum of ten percent of the original carbon emissions) are offset by purchasing carbon credits that are certified according to the highest quality standards, such as The Gold Standard. Net carbon neutrality was certified by independent experts.

Audi is also focusing on consistently reducing emissions outside the factory gates. As early as 2010, Audi was the first company to use trains that run on green power. The company has been operating carbon-free rail logistics in Germany with DB Cargo.

In addition, two modern plug-in hybrid locomotives are used at the Ingolstadt site for shunting work. The company is also continuously working to increase the proportion of rail traffic, for example, through the combined use of different rail and road carriers and alternative drive technologies for road shipments.

• Water use: Since 2019, Audi has operated a process water supply center with a membrane bioreactor in Ingolstadt to use water even more efficiently. With the previous treatment system, roughly half of the wastewater generated at the site can be fed into a circuit, where it is treated and processed for reuse. Audi also collects rainwater at the site in underground retention basins for use as non-potable water.
• Resource efficiency: Audi has operated a highly environmentally sound paint shop in Ingolstadt since 2016. Air circulation, dry separation of the paint particles, and exhaust air treatment significantly reduce thermal energy and water consumption and CO₂ emissions compared to conventional systems. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are reduced by over 90 percent.
• Land recycling: IN-Campus GmbH, a joint venture between the city of Ingolstadt and AUDI AG, has remediated a 75-hectare area of industrial wasteland in the east of Ingolstadt, thus creating the conditions for the incampus technology park without consuming new land. Fifteen hectares of the total area have been designated as a compensation area for nature and landscape; a near-natural alluvial forest with fallow grassland and willow trees growing there is an ecologically valuable transition between the high-tech area and nature.
• Biodiversity: As a member of the “Biodiversity in Good Company” initiative, Audi is involved in protecting biological diversity with projects at all Audi locations. The open spaces at the manufacturing site in Münchsmünster, designed to remain close to their natural form, are the most significant measure at the Ingolstadt location. A habitat for numerous animal and plant species has been created on around 17 hectares of the factory grounds.

Social engagement

Living responsibly is a deeply rooted principle in Audi’s strategy. As the largest employer in the Ingolstadt region, the Audi Group wants to improve the quality of life locally and regularly works with the city, local businesses, associations, educational institutions, and social services providers.

• “Audi Volunteers”: Audi bundles social activities together under this motto and supports employees’ volunteer engagement.
• Focus on education and research: Audi is committed to Ingolstadt and the region, including scientific cooperation and programs for schoolchildren, including Jugend forscht (a German youth science competition), Girls’ Day, and Digi Camp.
• Shaping mobility: Audi is working with the Ingolstadt public transit company (VGI) and Deutsche Bahn, among others, to reduce traffic around the site. The people living in the region also benefit from the expansion of the bus network and the new “Ingolstadt Audi” train stop right by the plant premises.
• The Audi experience in sports: Audi is also a reliable supporter of sports in the region. The company maintains partnerships with the ERC Ingolstadt (ice hockey), FC Ingolstadt 04 and VfB Eichstätt (soccer), and the Ingolstadt Dukes (American football). Audi attaches particular value to promoting youth and young talent, for example through the Audi Schanzer Football Academy and the Audi Sportakademie. Audi also supports many other regional clubs and sporting events, such as the Ingolstadt Half Marathon and the Audi Triathlon Ingolstadt. The company has been the latter’s main sponsor since its inception and the title sponsor since 2022.
• The Audi experience in culture: Audi has been sponsoring cultural activities for over 60 years. The Audi Philharmonic Wind Orchestra, a factory orchestra that began as an employee initiative, was the starting point for the company’s cultural involvement. The company bundles a diverse cultural program under the heading Audi ArtExperience. Concert highlights in the region include the Audi Summer Concerts, the Audi Christmas Concert, jazz concerts at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt, and performances by the Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy.

AUDI AG is also a partner and sponsor of the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt and the Ingolstadt Museum and Foundation for Concrete Art and Design. Audi is also involved in other ways, such as the season partnership with the Ingolstadt Municipal Theater and collaborations with the international short film festival 20minmax, the Ingolstädter Jazztage jazz festival, and the Taktraumfestival music festival.

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¹Audi understands net-zero carbon emissions to mean a situation in which, after other possible reduction measures have been exhausted, the company offsets the carbon emitted by Audi’s products or activities and/or the carbon emissions that currently cannot be avoided in the supply chain, manufacturing, and recycling of Audi vehicles through voluntary offsetting projects carried out worldwide. In this context, carbon emissions generated during a vehicle’s utilization stage, i.e. from the moment it is delivered to the customer, are not taken into account.