15.12.2000 – 11:00

Audi AG

"Audi Forum Ingolstadt" officially opened

Ingolstadt (ots)

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* New world of experience and service centre outside the 
     factory gates in Ingolstadt
   * Around DM 170 million invested - 250 new jobs created
   * The highlight: the museum mobile

The Audi Forum Ingolstadt has opened: today Dr Franz-Josef
Paefgen, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, together
with the Bavarian Prime Minister Dr Edmund Stoiber, officially opened
the new world of experience and service centre outside the factory
gates in Ingolstadt. The opening ceremony was attended by more than
300 guests from the worlds of the media, business and politics. Audi
has invested a total of around DM 170 million in building and
extending the Forum.

"With our Forum, a meeting place, we have now given the name Audi
in Ingolstadt the kind of visual expression that befits a premium
brand", declared Paefgen. "The Forum has been created as a point of
attraction for our customers, almost 50,000 employees worldwide and
also for the region of Ingolstadt." The Audi Forum Ingolstadt, which
stands on a site measuring around 77,000 square metres, comprises the
new museum mobile, the Customer Center for those collecting their new
car in person, the Mövenpick catering establishments and the office
and display building "Market and Customer". At the centre of the
Forum are the Piazza, a large square for events and activities, and
the Piazzetta,  a small park with trees and shrubs, water features
and lawns.

In his speech Stoiber stressed that, with the museum mobile, the
Audi Forum  clearly presented both the company's heritage and its
vision for the future: "Automotive history, which dates back over 100
years, is continued here with the dynamism of the new industries.
Technical progress is thus presented in a whole new way." This,
claimed Stoiber, is further evidence of Bavaria's role as a leading
high-tech location in Germany and Europe.

The museum mobile, which presents the history of Audi and its
predecessor brands, is the focus of the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. The
name "museum mobile" says it all: instead of a static historical
display, visitors to the museum will experience constant motion:
"moving walls", vehicles in a paternoster and interactive exhibits
indicate that the history of mobility is always about movement. More
than 50 cars and 30 motorcycles and bicycles from the history of the
Audi brand and its predecessors are on display here.

A key element of the Audi Forum Ingolstadt is the Customer Center,
opened back in 1992, where Audi customers can collect their new cars
from the factory. Around 60,000 customers took advantage of this
offer last year. They are given a detailed introduction to their new
car and can also set out on a factory tour from here. The Customer
Center was the first "hangar" building to be constructed in
compliance with the new Audi corporate design concept. It serves as
an architectural model for all new Audi dealerships. The office
building "Market and Customer" for more than 600 Marketing, Sales and
Public Relations employees opened in September 1999. The ground floor
of this building is home to numerous service providers - from the
insurance service VWV to the Audi Bank direct to a travel agent -
open to all Audi visitors, customers and employees.

The link building between the museum mobile and the Audi Center
has been newly constructed. It houses the central reception, two
Mövenpick restaurants, "Marché" and "Avus", the "Bar and Lounge", a
wine shop and delicatessen.

Around 250 new jobs have been created at Audi and its partner
companies at the Audi Forum. Xaver Meier, Chairman of the General
Works Council at AUDI AG , sees the Audi Forum Ingolstadt as a clear
'yes' to the Ingolstadt plant. "The company's self-confident
appearance also reflects the self-confidence of its employees."
Audi's success is also the success of its motivated, dedicated
workforce.

The Audi Forum Ingolstadt will be open to all visitors from 16
December 2000. The opening times of the museum mobile: Monday to
Thursday 10.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m., Friday/Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 10.00
p.m., Sunday and Public Holidays 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Audi is an international developer and manufacturer of
high-quality cars. The company maintains production sites in Germany,
Hungary, Brazil, China and South Africa. In 1999 Audi sold around
635,000 cars and produced more than 1.2 million engines. Audi expects
to sell more than 650,000 cars for the first time in 2000. Its sales
revenues in 1999 exceeded DM 29.6 billion. The Audi Group currently
has just under 50,000 employees.

Communication: Corporate and Finance
Joachim Cordshagen, Tel: +49 841 89 36340
e-mail:  joachim.cordshagen@audi.de
Dr. Ute Röding-Lange, Tel: +49 841 89 36384
e-mail:  ute.roeding-lange@audi.de

Original-Content von: Audi AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell