Audi Most Popular Employer Among Engineers

AUDI AG tops the list of employers among German university students. This is the conclusion of a study released today by the Trendence Institute*: for the first time, Audi was selected as the top employer by college graduates in engineering. The carmaker with the four rings is also gaining popularity among graduates in economics, who ranked the company in third place.

The Ingolstadt-based carmaker’s growing popularity as an employer is evident in the study conducted by the Berlin consulting institute among some 25,000 college graduates nearing their final exams: for the first time, the students of engineering surveyed selected Audi for first place. Audi also made a significant gain among economics graduates, jumping from eighth place (2007) to third. Audi has thus been selected as the most popular employer among engineering students in both relevant employer-ranking studies, the Universum (5/08) and the Trendence (8/08).

Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Human Resources, sees three main reasons for the company’s growing popularity: the consistently growing success of the brand, the cordial and intimate corporate culture, and good opportunities for career development. “We will expand our range from the current 26 models to 40 by 2015, and will continue to develop through technical innovation,” stated Widuckel. “Helping to develop innovations for tomorrow’s mobile society provides our employees with challenging tasks and attractive opportunities for career development. This leads to strong identification with the Audi brand and its products.” Thanks to the success of the company, Audi is also able to offer secure jobs within a corporate culture that features flat hierarchies and plentiful opportunities for international assignments.

An attractive employer also recognizes the contribution made by employees to the success of the company. This applies to financial compensation as well. “An attractive employer translates the success of the company into success for its employees,” said Widuckel. This is why an average of &suro;5,300 in distributed to each Audi employee from the company’s record earnings during the 2007 fiscal year.

Audi specifically targets young college graduates with various programs for young talent, not least with the goal of giving impetus to Germany as a location for technology. “With internships and thesis work, we give students early insight into the company and our Audi culture,” said Dr. Alfred Quenzler, Head of Personnel Marketing. “At the same time we get a detailed impression of potential applicants – it’s a mutual process of getting acquainted that frequently results in a permanent working relationship.” In 2007, the company was already familiar with 60 percent of its new hires due to their relationship with the company during their studies. During 2008 alone, Audi will hire 800 graduates, primarily from the fields of engineering and economics.

* As part of this year’s “Barometer of German University Graduates” – the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind – 25,000 students were surveyed about their preferences and priorities relating to starting their careers. This was the tenth time that the Trendence Institute conducted this study.

AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. With revenue of €33,617 million and profit before tax of €2,915 million, the company attained its best figures ever. Audi produces vehicles in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Györ (Hungary), Changchun (China) and Brussels (Belgium). At the end of 2007, production of the Audi A6 started in Aurangabad, India. The company is active in more than 100 markets worldwide. AUDI AG’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Lamborghini S.p.A. in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi currently employs around 57,000 people worldwide, including 45,000 in Germany. The brand with the four rings invests more than € 2 billion each year in order to sustain the company’s technological lead embodied in its “Vorsprung durch Technik” slogan. Audi plans to significantly increase the number of models in its portfolio by 2015 to 40.