[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]• Overall winner of the readers’ choice Auto Bild Design Award 2008[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]• A3, A4 and Audi Q5 take first place in their respective categories[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]• Audi has won the design award every year since 2006[/FONT]
Audi is making a habit of winning the Auto Bild Design Award conferred by readers of Auto Bild: After voting the Audi TT the winner in 2006 and the Audi R8 the victor one year later, the readers of the German automotive magazine this year chose the Audi A4 as the “most beautiful car of the year,” and thus as the overall champion. In addition, the A4 also took a clear first place in the sedan and station wagon category, finishing well ahead of its competitors. The Audi A3 likewise outperformed all its rivals in the small and compact car segment, as did the Audi Q5 in the off-road vehicle and SUV category.
Approximately 42,000 readers of Auto Bild took part in the voting on vehicle design, choosing from among more than 100 cars in seven categories. The magazine has been presenting the award since 2006, with Audi taking first place overall every year.
The Audi Q5 immediately won out in the off-road vehicle and SUV category this year, before even being launched on the market. In the overall rankings, the Q5 received so many votes that it took third place its first time out.
The Audi A3 product improvement impressed readers, accumulating more than 23 percent of the votes. Audi rounded off its success in the study and concept car category, taking second place with the Audi A1 project quattro.
Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, will accept the award from Bernd Wieland, editor-in-chief of Auto Bild, at the Paris Motor Show on Thursday.
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 Automobili Lamborghini Holding 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.
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