Good morning, and welcome to the annual Media Conference 2024 of Audi AG, live here in this hall and, of course, in our live stream. Now, after a number of years where it was fully virtual only, it's very nice to have this hybrid event today, live and as a live stream from the heart of Audi AG, live from the shop floor in Ingolstadt. That's for a good reason. It was only last night that we celebrated the media world premiere of the new Audi Q6 e-tron here, the first all-electric model from our headquarters here in Ingolstadt. Today, I'm delighted to welcome you to this very place for our annual media conference. With me in the studio, we have our CEO, Gernot Döllner. Welcome, Gernot. Hello, Dirk, and hello and welcome to all of you here on site in Ingolstadt and everybody who's joining us via webcast. Thank you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, what can you expect in the coming hour? We will start with a conversation with Gernot Döllner to explain how our company is holding its own in a challenging market environment. We will be focused on the important strategic topics, and of course, we will also talk about what the future will hold for Audi this year. Following that, our CFO, Jürgen Rittersberger, will present the key financial figures for 2023, the earnings, and also, of course, provide an outlook. At the end, as usual, Gernot Döllner and Jürgen Rittersberger will be happy to take any questions you have. What's important to know is that you can submit your questions immediately, that is, during the presentation program, using the question field on our microsite. To make sure that we have a level playing field, we'd ask you to submit your questions online, even if you're attending live in our studio, simply using the QR code that you see on the tables. Of course, our team is available in the room as well to help you with any issues. As I said, a level playing field, especially when there's a question that is a bit longer or involves several points. With that, let's go. Gernot, first question. You've been CEO of Audi AG since the first of September. Let's start with a short recap. How was your start at Audi, and what have you tackled since then? Well, I had an excellent start here in Ingolstadt, and the team received me very well. Together with my team on the board of management, I visited many markets. I went to all of the core regions. We asked lots of questions. With this highly motivated team, which I found here right from the start, we worked hard. We set priorities, and we can already look back at the initial joint successes. A good example of team play is the Dakar 2024 victory with two dimensions. It's excellent that we won there, and it's the first time that a car with an electric drivetrain and hybrid power supply, energy supply, that such a car won the hardest rally in the world. With this, it continues a long motorsports tradition. Just think of the hybrid at Le Mans, and this demonstrates that Audi really stands for Vorsprung durch Technik, leadership through technology. Secondly, teamwork in the development phase of the car and also teamwork during the actual race, and that's something that I highly appreciate, and I found this among the team. Then last night, that was another highlight, the world premiere of our Q6 e-tron, and some of you actually were here yesterday on-site in Ingolstadt. Well, I myself, at a very early concept stage, in a different role, I had the pleasure of cooperating on the development of this car. It's a very important model in terms of the Audi strategy. Now, with this car, for the very first time, electric mobility now comes from Ingolstadt. We are manufacturing the car here in a line in this building, and the battery is assembled here in Ingolstadt, and it's the first car on the PPE, the Premium Platform Electric, that we developed together with Porsche, Audi and Porsche. Now, this car sets new standards in terms of efficiency, in terms of range, and above all, as far as charging speed is concerned, and I believe that's one of the core features for an EV, for an electric vehicle. A lot of work has been put into this launch, a lot of work by the team, and it's going to be the first car of a long series of models, and we will start with two electric cars, and then later on, there is going to be a complete renewal of our family of ICE cars with internal combustion engines. Now, when we look at 2023, we can see that we have robust key figures, and that's a good starting point for 2024. All in all, in 2023, we saw demand for passenger cars, which was noticeably above the previous year's level, the level in 2022. In 2023, approximately 1.9 million cars were delivered, and that is an excellent level of deliveries, and in all regions in the world, there were increases. Jürgen Rittersberger will give you more details on this in a moment. A nice figure for me, +50% increase for EVs, for electric vehicles, and this definitely confirms our course that we have chosen towards electric mobility. 2023 has been a very successful year. If you take a look at the year 2024 now, I believe, or we believe, that it's going to be a year of transition. Well, that is how we announced it in our press release. It's a year of transition. That sounds a little like the difficult economic conditions I referred to. What challenges do you see for Audi and for the industry as a whole? Right. Currently, we are experiencing a rapid turnaround in the automotive industry towards battery electric vehicles, and also in terms of software-defined vehicles. In addition to this, well, globally, across the board, there are difficult global economic conditions. They are becoming more and more challenging all the time. We have technological upheaval, in fact, and I mentioned this before, we have new competitors that are now challenging us as the established car manufacturers. We are facing up to this and the external factors that we have to cope with. What I already mentioned, the increasingly intense competition from new players in China and also North America. When we look at our suppliers, they are increasingly subject to pressure, and we can see higher costs, higher factor costs for raw materials and commodities or materials in general. At the same time, there's weakened economic growth, but Jürgen Rittersberger will tell you the background and the details later on. In addition to the external factors, we, Audi, are also facing internal factors. There will be numerous model launches coming up. We already reported about them yesterday, and we talked about them today. There are three core product lines which we are renewing, and some are launched, some are phased out. That, of course, has an influence on our sales figures. For some models and components, we still see a difficult, tight supply situation for some parts. Overall, particularly with our starting point at a good level in 2023, we think we are well-positioned for this year of transition. We can definitely, well, face this change from a position of strength. We can help change, help shape this change. We are also fully aware that in this complex environment, we have to be focused, and secondly, speed is important. We have to pick up speed, and this transition has to be shaped with high speed. Gernot, you mentioned a number of the challenges, raw material costs or SOPs, et cetera. What's the strategic course and decision that you've been able to take as a management to meet these challenges? As I just mentioned, now on the one hand, our company is currently managing the biggest model initiative in Audi's history, that we've been waiting for for a long time. That, of course, is what we planned for. At the same time, we are continuing to drive forward a fundamental transformation in the history of Audi. We have to act ambidextrously. We have to look at the short-term and long-term horizon and keep them or be aware of them both at the same time. That's why the management board team has conducted an intensive review over the past few months, and we have set up an agenda, and this agenda addresses the important fields of action for our company. It also creates clarity for all stakeholders, so that we all know what we as a company should be focusing on, what the key focal areas are for us. It's a very balanced mix of a transformation program and a strategy program. This clearly determines our focus. Our focus is on four key areas. First of all, products and technology for one thing, and then on the other hand, it's the brand, the brand model, and also plan for the important regions, China and North America. The Audi Agenda contains everything that we need to take Audi forward again. When it comes to the Audi Agenda, where yesterday there were some questions on this, so let me ask them right now, and let's be specific. What have you been working on, which milestones specifically during the last few months? Well, I think a key point and actually a first result is what we see here on the right-hand side on the stage. We have set up a reliable roadmap for our model initiative. Last autumn, we revised product launches for the coming years, and we thought about what we can do, what we are able to deliver also with our commitment to high quality, because we are not going to accept any compromises in quality. Quality is our number one priority, and this is why we readjusted the launches. These are staggered launches now, so that it's possible to deliver all of this, and we can do this now step by step. Secondly, another thing that we did, as far as our model portfolio is concerned, we revised it, and we also revised our vision, our target picture. We have a clear target portfolio for Audi, all electric, an all-electric target portfolio, and step by step, we are working to achieve this now. We already started with this on the Q6 e-tron. We removed complexity from our offering. We reduced derivatives to a certain extent, but we also made sure that certain numbers have now been bundled and that we have set up packages which are understandable and which are customer-oriented. We also have a future-proof segment coverage that we ensure for the next few years. In the next few years, in every segment, we will have electric vehicles. In addition to complexity on the product side, we also work to improve our organizational complexity. We reduced the level of complexity, things that used to slow us down. As far as the number of committees is concerned, we streamlined this, and we have a new matrix structure which we defined. A matrix structure, which in terms of the product, makes sure that we now focus on entrepreneurship. The product lines are strengthened as a company within the company. We are now focusing more on the line areas in technical development, for instance, that need to focus more on innovation and technology. All in all, this means that cars and innovations, thanks to the streamlined and cleaner structures, can go to the road faster and more customer-oriented. Thank you, Gernot. We will definitely talk more later on about the upcoming product launches this year. Let's now turn to last year's financial results. The 2023 financial results. Financial figures for 2023. Significant growth in all key markets. Growth in all core regions. In particular, electric vehicle deliveries increased significantly. Sales of electric vehicles increased significantly. +51% worldwide. +51% worldwide. A plus of 55% +55% in the U.S. market in the U.S. market. In total, the Brand Group Progressive delivered about 1.9 million units. About 1.9 million cars. That's a plus of 17%. This corresponds to a growth of 17%. The revenue rose to EUR 69.9 billion. 69.9%. That's +13%. EUR 1 billion, +13% in the previous year. The operating margin is 9%. Our operating margin is 9% now. The net cash flow. Net cash flow reaches EUR 4.7 billion. Reaches EUR 4.7 billion. We are responding to the continuing challenging market environment with a clear roadmap for 2024 and beyond. The years beyond. Right. Now our CFO, Jürgen Rittersberger, has joined us. He is responsible for financial, legal, and IT. Great to have you here. Thank you, and happy to be here, and welcome to the heart of Ingolstadt, the shop floor. Great venue. Now, we saw some of the figures already, the profit and margin. Can you give us a deep dive into the markets and regions? Yes, of course. Happy to do this. Brand Group Progressive delivered more than 1.9 million Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini cars worldwide in 2023. This means growth of around 17%. With that, we were able to grow significantly in all core regions and faster than the market as a whole. In Europe, there were deliveries of 755,000 units, exceeding the previous year's number by 19% approximately. We achieved clear double-digit growth rates in each of the five major European passenger car markets. That's Germany, the U.K., Italy, France, and Spain. As for China, our most important single market, 733,000 vehicles were delivered. That's +13%. In the U.S., our deliveries increased year-on-year by 21% to around 235,000 units. We have also gathered speed in terms of electrification. With 178,000 all-electric Audi models, 51% more cars were delivered worldwide than in the previous year. To summarize, this is a strong sales performance, all the more so given the currently challenging conditions that we're facing, where Gernot gave you some indications. Could you tell us a bit more about those challenging general conditions? Well, happy to do so. As we all know, there are more and more geopolitical crises around the world. In addition to the war on Ukraine, the Middle East crisis came into focus from the autumn onwards. At the same time, global economic growth slowed noticeably in 2023, especially in Europe and in Germany, where the economy is weak. The most important overall car markets were significantly higher in 2023 than in the previous year, but 2022 was strongly affected by the semiconductor crisis. The improvement in supply is accompanied by increasingly fierce competition, however, especially in the BEV segment. At Audi, we have taken decisive action in this challenging environment, among other things, with our Performance Program 14. In this program, we combine all measures to achieve a long-term return of 14%, but more on that later. The bottom line is that I can today announce a robust financial performance for the 2023 fiscal year. At EUR 69.9 billion, our sales revenue exceeded the previous year's figure by 13%. This is primarily due to higher vehicle sales thanks to strong demand and a more stable supply situation. Within our model range, the all-electric Audi Q4 e-tron recorded the strongest sales growth by far. Overall, the share of revenue from the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles, according to the EU taxonomy, climbed to approximately 16.3%. Our operating income reached EUR 6.3 billion, following EUR 7.6 billion in the previous year. As a result, our operating return on sales fell from 12.2% to 9%. This decline is primarily due to effects from commodity hedges, which is important to know. In 2023, these effects had a negative impact, that's the commodity hedges again, of around EUR 0.9 billion after a positive effect of around EUR 0.8 billion the year before. Adjusted for these effects, earnings were up on the previous year at EUR 7.2 billion. The adjusted return would be 10.3%. The Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati brands also made a substantial positive contribution with a total of EUR 1.4 billion. In contrast, our China business, totaling EUR 915 million, is not included in the operating income, but in our financial result or financial income. Our earnings and our return overall show one thing, our business and financial management was successful in 2023. This also applies to our net cash flow at EUR 4.7 billion. This was roughly on a par with the quite strong previous year. It was in particular, the reduction of inventories that had a particularly positive effect, over EUR 4 billion. On the other hand, higher CapEx and development costs had a negative impact on net cash flow in the reporting year. This increase is primarily due to upcoming model launches. A case in point, our showcase, you can see here the Audi Q6 e-tron, which was presented yesterday, and which you can see here today in the limelight. Jürgen, you just mentioned our brand group. How have Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati developed individually? Well, as I said, our brands did a great job, financially speaking. Let me start with Bentley. 13,600 luxury cars delivered by Bentley in 2023, 11% less than in the strong previous year, and revenue declined accordingly, reaching EUR 2.9 billion. Our operating income for Bentley, that is, was EUR 589 million. The return on sales for Bentley reached 20.1%, which was just above the strategic target of 20%. This means that our British luxury brand has achieved more than some key figures, despite difficult conditions in some markets and a fundamentally challenging phase in the product life cycle. In the coming years, Bentley will gradually convert its entire product portfolio to e-mobility, step by step, and Bentley models will continue to impress with their luxury, comfort, and performance. In 2023, Lamborghini once again clearly exceeded the record numbers of the previous year across the board. For the first time in its history, Bentley delivered more than 10,000 cars. Sales revenue increased by 12%, reaching EUR 2.7 billion. The operating income came in at EUR 723 million, which means a record return on sales of 27.2%. That is an all-time high for Lamborghini. One thing I'm particularly pleased about as CFO is the order book of Lamborghini, which is absolutely full, which makes it easy to plan ahead. The current Huracán and Urus models are sold out until the end of production. For the new Revuelto, the world's first super sports car with a V12 plug-in hybrid, there's a waiting list where the waiting time is until 2026. Another milestone for Lamborghini will be the all-electric GranTurismo based on last year's Lanzador concept study. Let's stay in Italy for a minute. As in the previous year, for Ducati, we can say that Ducati dominated the world of motorbike racing in 2023, being the first motorbike manufacturer to win the Riders' and Manufacturers' World Championships in the MotoGP and Superbike World Championship twice in a row, which is a fantastic achievement. It's also off the racetrack that the motorbike manufacturer has impressed us with its strong performance. Despite a slight decline in deliveries and sales, the operating income was above the previous year's number. That's especially due to a better mix, but also due to a very consistent premium strategy and strict cost discipline. The bottom line was that the return on sales of Ducati was a strong 10.5%. Well, you are really quite satisfied with the figures for 2023. Like with Lamborghini, Ducati, you're really happy with the figures. We noticed that. Let's take a look at the current year. What do you expect? Well, as Gernot said earlier, 2024 will be a transition year. The overall economic situation remains difficult. We expect the passenger car markets to remain highly competitive. It's especially in the BEV segment that demand has recently lost momentum, to some extent as a result of declining or expiring subsidies in some key markets. Moreover, our new products, such as the wonderful Q6 e-tron, but also the A6 e-tron, will only become fully effective in terms of volume from the second half of the year. In addition, we also expect the supply situation to remain tight in 2024. Overall, it's our expectation on this basis that the sales revenue will come in at between EUR 63 billion and EUR 68 billion, and the operating return on sales should reach a robust level of between 8% and 10%. For the current fiscal year, we anticipate an investment or CapEx ratio of between 11% and 13%. This includes research and development expenditure in total and also our CapEx. Net cash flow is expected to be between EUR 2.5 billion and EUR 3.5 billion. Let me summarize. 2024 will be a challenging year for us. Nevertheless, we are aiming for sound financial performance even in this transition year. Much for the forecast for 2024. Can you give us an outlook for the years after 2024? Of course. We will continue to invest heavily in our future. We plan upfront expenditures of around EUR 41 billion by 2028. The decrease of about EUR 1.6 billion compared to last year's planning round is mainly due to the streamlining and optimization of our product portfolio. Audi defined a clear roadmap for the transition to e-mobility at an early stage. As early as in 2026, we are planning the last major world premieres of new product lines with conventional powertrains. Based on this decision, we are seeing a decline in investment and CapEx in our ICE models, right, in our current planning. EUR 29.5 billion or more than 70% of our upfront expenditure will be spent on the future fields of e-mobility and digitalization. It's by 2027 that we intend to substantially expand our e-portfolio and offer an all-electric vehicle in all core segments. You mentioned it before, and this morning we already got some questions. What role does our Performance Program 14 play in this? Well, as Gernot has said, with the Audi Agenda, first of all, we have developed a clear-cut plan. We are recharging Vorsprung durch Technik. We are rebalancing our organization, strengthening our business in China and North America, and we're putting our customer and quality even more center stage. All of this will cost some money initially. This makes a strong financial performance all the more important. We are bundling the necessary measures for this in Performance Program 14. Our aim is to achieve an operating return on sales of 14% for the Audi Group in the long term. Now, it's, if you like, the financial foundation of the Audi Agenda that I'm talking about. We launched the Performance Program in 2023 and have achieved the first successes. We have tapped into volume potential, which was not fully tapped. We have managed our mix to optimize returns, and we consistently scrutinize where we can become leaner and more efficient, where we can drop unnecessary things or simplify things. This has helped us to close 2023 at a robust level. In the short and medium term, Performance Program 14 will play an even more important role in the light of the challenges that we outlined before. On the revenue side, first of all, we are benefiting above all from the numerous new models that we'll be launching from mid-2024. At the same time, we are increasingly focusing on material cost and optimizing our logistics and production processes. Let me explain what the biggest levers are. They are in the long-term area. We are optimizing our product portfolio, reducing complexity, strengthening our product line organization, ensuring faster and more robust decisions. We are optimizing our global production network. We are thus reducing factory costs and increasing our flexibility, and these are just a few selected examples. With Performance Program 14, we are organizing our financial success. Now, this is challenging, but we have a clear plan, we have strong brands, and above all, we have super attractive products. One thing, we have a great team. Thank you, Jürgen. Thank you. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the audience here on site and all those connected digitally on the webcast, I'd like to remind you once again, based upon what you heard from our CFO, let me remind you that you can submit your questions, and then in the Q&A session, we will answer your questions. Before we get to that, let's have another chat with our CEO, Gernot Döllner. Gernot. Gernot, Jürgen made it clear in his keynote contribution that 2023 was a successful year for Audi, a robust year. Let's take a look ahead, shall we? What are the milestones for 2024? Well, I believe the really important message is that there will be lots of new models for our customers. That's the good news. The Q6 e-tron is the start of a major product initiative. step by step, over the next few years, we will rejuvenate our product portfolio significantly. It will become much younger. What we plan for 2024 and 2025 is more than 20 new models. The Q6 e-tron, as I just mentioned, platform PPE, is the backbone for further models. In the summer of 2024, the A6 e-tron will follow, and the Electronic Architecture will also be introduced to our ICE engine cars with combustion engines, and that will be the Premium Platform Combustion, PPC. On this platform, our ICE cars will be launched in the second half of the year with the Audi A5 and Q5. We will launch cars with highly efficient modern combustion engines. A couple of days ago, we already had the world premiere of the Audi A3. It was presented only recently, and by 2027, all the core segments will be electrified. At the same time, there will be additional emotional derivatives. Our vision here is quite clear, a purely electric portfolio. Most recently, we had quite a few discussions, but I want to make it really clear here for us and for our strategy, now the future of the vehicle is electric. I don't want to leave any doubt about that. For the transition period, and here we are talking about a period of 10 years, it will be important to offer, in addition to the BEVs, to offer highly efficient combustion engines and plug-in hybrids. We will then, with our model portfolio, be excellently positioned and able to act, and we can respond to different customer requirements. If there are any fluctuations, if there are waves in the market, ups and downs in the markets, we can certainly respond to them excellently. We will be flexible, and this applies to all of the world regions. This is exactly what we address when we say our business rests on three strong pillars, Europe, North America, and China. This is a balanced, a global structure set up. As of the end of 2024, in China, in our new e-car plant in Changchun, and specifically for the Chinese market, we will have specific cars designed for China, for the Chinese market. Pre-series production already started at the end of January. In addition, in the south of China, together with our partner, SAIC, new electric models will be developed locally on a joint platform to strengthen our position in the Chinese electric car market. Very important, North America, particularly in the U.S., which is the world's second-largest car market, there we are looking at how Audi can grow profitably, and we developed a plan for this. There too, transition to electric vehicles is a major opportunity for us, which we would like to utilize. Both in the BEV and in the combustion engine markets in the United States, we want to grow. In 2023, we achieved 55% growth in EV deliveries, and this confirms very clearly that we have chosen the right strategy as far as electric mobility also in North America is concerned. We have a very clear plan also for the North American market. Gernot, last point before turning to the Q&A session. We've heard which models have been announced, how Audi is positioning itself for further growth in the world regions. That's certainly the operational focus for 2024 and 2025, but of course, in R&D, you are working on the next model generations. How have you positioned yourselves for this? What are the focus areas? Well, naturally, also in technical development, we are very intensively working To get these products to the road, and it's clear for us, it's our aspiration for every new model, it should have the potential to become an icon, and it should meet high premium standards in terms of design, quality, and efficiency. Talking about quality, to just focus on quality, there are two dimensions to quality for our customers. It's product quality, including service quality. I'm also very much convinced that in our company, our process quality also is something we should focus on. Here we've already started various initiatives so that internally in our processes, we become faster, more stringent, because efficient and quality-oriented processes will then lead to or result in the kind of cars that you see here. We are in the process of revising our matrix organization to make it more focused, to introduce leaner processes, which is not an end in itself. Because thanks to shorter development times and more entrepreneurships in our product lines, we would like to demonstrate our Vorsprung durch Technik more clearly again. At the same time, and Dirk already mentioned it, we are working on a paradigm shift towards the software-defined vehicle. This is a development process which focuses on the importance of software, and the customer experience is put at the center. Software will be the leading element in the development of future vehicles, and all the other processes will be oriented towards it and will be based upon it. Together with Volkswagen and CARIAD, we have set up a software-defined vehicle hub, and together we will develop the software and hardware concept and together with the architecture for the next generation of vehicles. Gernot, thank you very much for this overview. Ladies and gentlemen, I've been informed that we have received quite a number of questions in the meantime, and we will start with the answers shortly. We'll be back in a few moments. Okay. Welcome back. As I can see, a number of questions have come in, starting with a question from the online part of the audience from China. Lizhang, Internet Information Agency asks, and Gernot, that's a question for you: Ever since you've been CEO, you've been to China repeatedly. What are your expectations for the future development of Audi in the Chinese market, and where does Audi have to improve? That's perfectly right. I went to China repeatedly, and there was a very active exchange with our teams, also together with Jürgen Rittersberger. In China, we are still in what I would call a transition phase, where we are going to rejuvenate and expand our product offering with a number of E models that we'll be launching and also new generations of ICEs. In Changchun in the north, there is a new PPE factory where we plan to produce specific dedicated vehicles for the Chinese markets. With FAW, there are going to be three PPE models, and the A6 e-tron, the Q6 e-tron will be those produced specifically for China, industrialized for China. With SAIC, as I mentioned before, E vehicles, progressive segment E vehicles will be offered, developed and offered for the Chinese market. Okay, let's continue with the next question. Alexander Demmig, thank you for that question. Der Spiegel. A number of years ago, Audi was the most ambitious Level 3 self-driving car maker, and now competitors have been offering and developing things. Are you continuing that challenge or not? And if not, why? First of all, we believe in Level 3. We see that as a future trend, and we are focusing on customer benefit and looking at what customers' needs are in different driving situations, for example, driving, parking, safety and security, and also comfort. Currently, we are focusing on the continued development of Level 2 systems, where we have a clear roadmap that we are pursuing, expanded hands-off options that we are offering to our customers. One example would be the new assist systems, such as the Adaptive Cruise Assist in the Q6 e-tron, which again, you see here in this room. We have one question that came in from several, and I'll try to phrase it in quite a wide way. It came from several stakeholders. How strongly are you affected by the cost-cutting program of the group? Will jobs be shed? What does the group's cost-cutting program mean for Audi? Well, we established our Performance Program 14, and we called it Performance Program for a reason, and not cost-cutting or efficiency program, because our goal is really both sides of the income statement, in other words, the income side and the cost side. On the income side, our volume potential is what we intend to tap into, fully optimizing the mix and some after-sales plans. So there's a lot of potential. Of course, we are looking at the cost side, where cost of materials is one particular focus, which is important, especially for the BEVs. As for employment, it was back in 2019 that Audi Zukunft was our agreement with the employee representatives, and that was a trailblazing employee program. There were some headcount reductions since, and important steps were reached. With that, we have a sound footing to plan and look and manage things ahead. We are still looking at having a grip of our costs, and cost discipline is very important. Okay, we have an individual question which was asked several times. Let's take it, by John McElroy, Autoline, U.K. Thank you very much for your question. Now, the Q6 e-tron, because of software problems, was slightly delayed. How big a problem is it for a traditional brand such as Audi compared to previous models, earlier models? And are you confident that you have overcome these problems? Now, all in all, we've been very ambitious when we set our targets in the development of the Premium Platform Electric, and also the E³ architecture, which is installed in this vehicle. Now, the E³ architecture is a key technology which, together with CARIAD and with Porsche, which we developed as a team and which we are launching now, and digitalization and the customer experience will be raised to a new level thanks to it. This is why, over the past few months, the launch, the start of these vehicles was slightly adjusted. Quality and maximum customer benefit were our particular focus, and we conducted comprehensive tests to validate the functions, and now we are finished. Now we are ready with the Q6 and the other models for this future technology that we now bring to our customers, and also with the level of quality the customers can expect of us. Good. Okay. from the U.K., we go directly to a more local question, Alexander Dambach from Südwestrundfunk. Following question on our plant in Neckarsulm. The works council in Neckarsulm is asking for much better capacity utilization of the plant and a decision in favor of further models to be produced at the Neckarsulm plant. I assume that this refers back to the town hall meeting two weeks ago. Capacity utilization is not sufficiently guaranteed. That's what the works council is saying. Are there any plans in addition to the already known and announced launches of new models? Now, first of all, we have a host of new models that we have confirmed for Neckarsulm, a large range. In Neckarsulm, we are preparing the startup of the A5, A6, A7 families, which will be this year and next year. We decided as of the middle of the year, gradually we will be bringing all-electric cars to Neckarsulm. Neckarsulm is a very flexible plant. Electrification in the D-segment was decided for Neckarsulm, and as of the end of the decade, the second generation of the A6 e-tron will also go to Neckarsulm. There, too, we have a clear commitment in terms of capacity utilization of this plant. With all of the models that we are starting here, we have capacity utilization. We are committed to it. A question which came in several times over. Jürgen, you referred to the current figures. You presented the current figures. Let me sum it up like this. How can Audi achieve its ambitious profitability targets in the future based upon the results that we have seen so far? Now, first of all, we have a robust starting point where we come from in 2023. I think we've impressively demonstrated our economic strength in 2023, and that's important because we need this profitability to invest in the future, to make sure that our transformation can be financed. This is why our Performance Program 14 is so important, where we set ourselves a very ambitious goal. In the long term, return on sales of 14% is to be achieved. We are working to improve our proceeds, our income, and here our new models, our major model initiative is definitely going to help us to increase or improve our revenue position. We are also looking at which markets we have, where we can tap into additional potential and where our volume potential can be further exploited. At the same time, as far as costs are concerned, and this was included in the answer to the previous question, we have a strong focus on material costs. We are also working to become more efficient, to become leaner, to reduce complexity. Gernot gave you a really concrete example before. In 2023, we already made our structure of committees leaner. We streamlined our committees to become faster and more efficient. Also our return on sales will be further optimized by a better managed mix. There, too, our new products are going to help us. Last but not least, with these platforms, we also benefit from synergies within the group, and particularly for battery electric vehicles, I believe it's one of the keys to success. Well, I think we already covered a good part of the response to the next question. Gregor Hebermehl, Automobilwoche. I think, this answer basically also applies to your question, which goes in the same direction. Additional question on PP14, the performance program. You are saying, goes to Mr. Döllner, but I think for both gentlemen. In the Performance Program 14, you identified areas in which Audi wants to become leaner, more efficient, where you're going to drop in unnecessary things. Could you please give us a concrete example where this already happened? This also goes in the direction of the answer that Jürgen just gave us. I believe that Jürgen, well, commented on PP14 already. He told you quite a lot about it. When we think in terms of lean and efficient, when we talk about it, then we really mean everything, all of the areas. We mean, on the one hand, our organizational structure and how we organize our processes. As I told you, as far as our committees, our structure of committees is concerned, we've definitely streamlined it now. It's much leaner. Also the way we manage processes with our matrix organization, we introduce more entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial spirit into our company, so that the individual product lines are companies within the companies. They are the ones who become more leaner and more efficient as a consequence. Complexity, that's something that is high priority for us. The Q6 e-tron already is a very good example, where the complexity of software and the number of versions that can be ordered by customers was drastically reduced. We have clearly predefined packages offering to our customers. That's good for the customers because these packages offer extra value. The customer has to struggle with less complexity when they order something. Our expectation is, and we already feel the result, that our internal complexity can be reduced alongside. All right, I'm combining a number of questions again, grouping them together. Questions about the end of ICEs and actually postponing some of that. Are your ICE products obsolete, or what will happen after 2026? Will there be combined drivetrains? Gernot, perhaps that's a question for you. Well, to answer that directly, our ICEs are launches, launch models. They are SOPs and will be over the next two and a half years, where in all segments of ICEs, there will be SOPs with a completely new generation of internal combustion engines and hybrid, since you mentioned combined powertrains. Yes, we have to be ambidextrous, as I said before. Battery electric vehicles in all core segments by 2026, but in 2026 and 2027, new ICEs and plug-in hybrids will be launched as well, which means a perfect footing with a completely new portfolio, BEV, ICE, and plug-in hybrids. Okay then. Thank you. A question from Markus Fasse from Handelsblatt. When will we see the decision in favor of a U.S. plant, and what does this decision depend on? Has the presidential election an influence of the type of powertrain? We haven't taken the final decision yet. We are investigating different scenarios. On the one hand, we see that BEV demand in the U.S. is growing, and strongly so. The Inflation Reduction Act means that e-mobility in the U.S. is getting more dynamic. It's given a boost. With the Q5, we are about to take off in Mexico, which is a very important model for the North American market. We're reviewing various options, and the decision will be taken in the planning round of the Volkswagen Group as well, and the entire North American region and infrastructure, local infrastructure. Our planning is clearly more long-term than in the political arena. Certainly, our planning goes beyond the term of one president, which means the election means that we are still working in a very flexible way. Claudia Scholz, next question, The Pioneer. When do you expect battery prices to go down? Are you afraid of any bottlenecks? Well, let me start the other way around. The supply situation and supplier situation for batteries is very good. Against that backdrop, today, we don't fear any bottlenecks. That's in particular true because with battery technology, we're using LFP technology and NMC technology at the same time. Of course, battery technology is a key core competence that we are investing in, building more know-how within Audi, but in particular within the Volkswagen Group. As far as the reduction of battery cost is concerned, we are working within the entire Volkswagen Group, which means we can consistently and are using effects of scale. With PowerCo, I think we've established a great foundation. There are also some technology options when it comes to energy density optimization in batteries. It's our expectation to reap further benefits in terms of cost in battery technology. Okay. Let's move to Italy. Alberto Aniceto, I hope I got the name right. Your question was, which models based on PPE are expected, are planned? RS. And what future, what will be the future of RS, our most sporty models in the future? As for PPE, it's a central cornerstone of our BEV portfolio. The world premiere of the Q6 e-tron yesterday was the kickoff for our model initiative for PPE in general, market, for market launches on this platform, based on this platform, towards the later part of the year. There you will see the vehicles, and some of the A6 e-tron will be presented, the PPE flat or low derivative. In addition to the Q6 e-tron, there will also be sportier derivatives when it comes to the body structure. Those will come later. RS derivatives will be part of our PPE toolkit. More details on derivatives and more models will follow in due course. Things remain exciting. Next question. Now we go to Belgium. Jan Nagels from Belga. Is there any news on future models from Audi Brussels? Could you confirm that the plant also after 2027 will still remain? Now, all in all, in the Volkswagen Group, we continuously work to optimize allocation of volume to the plants of our global production network of the Volkswagen Group, and this is done annually in planning rounds. Now, the plant in Brussels is a pioneer for battery electric vehicle production in the Audi Group. I believe that the good news, first of all, is that the SOP of the Q8 e-tron was in December 2022. That means the Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback cars are at the very beginning of their model life cycle and are going to be produced for a couple of years to come. The decision on which models will come next will then be taken in the next planning rounds in the group. Okay, then another question by Financial Times in the United States, Arash Massoudi, I think I'll see you later. Yes. Now, what do you think about potential EU import duties on Chinese car imports, and are you concerned about any potential countermeasures that could then be introduced by China? This is a topic which is very often discussed nowadays. It's a hot debate. Now, as a matter of principle, we as Audi, as a global company, I think we benefited from globalization like many other companies, and this is why we endorsing free and fair trade. This is what we support. Any kind of protectionism is something that we are really worried about, and at the end of the day, these are trade obstacles that nobody will benefit from. Of course, the question is how would we respond if China actually wants to really shield itself off against the other markets, if they want to close themselves off? We think that would be the wrong way to go. There are better ways than, well, duties, import duties and tariffs. If a product is successful, it's going to be accepted by the market. For this, we don't need any tariffs and trade barriers. Thank you. Let's now go to China, Feiling Carr. This is a question that was raised a couple of times, particularly in the context with Mercedes. Now, Mercedes-Benz announced the phase out from gasoline engine cars, or it delayed the phase out from gasoline engine cars. Now, what do you think, is Audi going to phase out cars with gasoline engine cars according to the original plan? What do you think? Now, we are fully committed to e-mobility. We are driving this forward full force. The future of the car is electric. There's no doubt about it for us. We have and we will ensure that this, combination of battery electric cars, ICE, and PHEVs, all three will be available for the transition period. With this strategy, since we are renewing our entire portfolio, we think we are very flexibly positioned with this strategy. The last world premieres for the ICE engine cars will be in 2026, and then we have the transition period, and by 2033, we plan to conduct the phase out. If there are any ups and downs in the markets, if there are waves occurring again in the transition period, if there are fluctuations, we can flexibly react to it in all world regions. We can respond to any kind of fluctuations in the market. I'm going to combine a couple of questions, and this is something we discuss quite frequently. Now, recently, the first freight ship with BYD cars reached Germany. How seriously do we take this? Are we afraid of the urge of Chinese brands to expand into Europe? You know, talking about the first shipments by BYD to Europe on a ship, on a container ship. It's similar to what we said before about tariffs and import duties on trade. We as a global company, we are committed to fair and open worldwide trade, and that's really good. We are very confident as far as Chinese competitors are concerned. We are expanding our e-mobility, and the Audi Q6 is an excellent example that we are very well positioned. At the same time, we are really relying on our particular strengths, and this is design and quality. This is driving behavior, handling, safety. This is what we benefit from, our own strength. I'm convinced that in the premium segment in particular, we will continue to offer highly attractive products. I believe we don't need to be afraid of any additional competition from China. Now, the question about the North American sites has not been fully addressed yet, because Jack Walsworth from Automotive News is asking, would Audi, you know, the upcoming Scout production site in South Carolina, would you use it for assembly of cars? And does Audi develop a car on the basis of the upcoming Scout platform? As I said before, no decision has yet been taken whether in future Audi will manufacture in the United States. We are still examining potential scenarios there. All in all, the new Scout plant in a different function, a different role, I was involved there, and I think it's an excellent idea, and it's a wonderful opportunity for the Volkswagen Group as a whole. As a matter of principle, with such a platform and such a plant, well, it's possible to benefit from synergies within the group, and a diversified portfolio is conceivable. All in all, what we are doing, and that's clear, our global portfolio will be expanded by market-specific derivatives and models, but we cannot communicate on this yet. We'll do it in due time. Thank you. Now, I'm going to combine a couple of questions once again. It's charging infrastructure, charging speed and charging per se, charging generally. Let me sum it up like this, charging speed, charging on the go, that's difficult, and it's one of the reasons why possibly certain customers are reluctant to buy an EV. What is our response to this? Now, first of all, the question I believe certainly addresses one of the reasons why so many customers are reluctant to buy an EV nowadays, charging. This is why we are addressing this topic. The combination of range and charging speed, we really put it at the very top of our list of priorities, so it's the combination of the two. What we need is a high basic range that the electric car can cover, but we also need excellent charging performance. I believe that Q6 e-tron, if I can use it as a reference here, we have both. We have 600 km range, and just as important to me, we have extremely rapid charging, 270 KW of charging performance, and this means that 250 km of range can be recharged in 10 minutes. That's the time that otherwise you would just, you know, have a break at a rest station along or a rest area along the motorway, and that's the time you need for recharging. As far as charging infrastructure is concerned, we do see some progress. I think 120,000 charging points, rapid charging points for 1.4 million BEV cars, that's what we see now. The Volkswagen Group also has 40,000 high-performance chargers in the EU, China and the United States. That's the group's contribution. It's very important that all of this needs to be combined, the infrastructure and the ramp-up of EVs, and here we are also making our contribution. The most important point is range of the EVs and charging speed. Thank you. Let's turn to a question that came from several again. It's relatively clear and about one thing. When will we get an affordable electric entry-level model of Audi? This is something that we've been discussing in our portfolio discussions on the board of management, very active discussions on this during the last few months. In the medium term, an additional electric model below the Q4 e-tron will be launched, and I can tell you this, it will be a wonderful, unique, independent vehicle concept. It will be produced in Ingolstadt, and it will be a model that we can all look forward to. Okay, then let's go back to Neckarsulm, Alexander Dambach. A second question on Böllinger Höfe. Will there be a successor to the R8 there, which reaches its EOP, and will the strategy of the complete phase-out of ICE engines be reviewed again or reconsidered if the sales volume of EV vehicles is not picking up speed as planned? Well, let me give you three parts to that answer. Well, there are three parts to the question. The sales volume of EV vehicles not picking up speed as planned, the last part of your question. There I'd go back to what we said during the presentations. We have a flexible setup with BEV, ICE, and PHEVs. Of course, we are regularly reviewing our strategy and will always be capable of acting and adapting. Böllinger Höfe and the R8 and capacity utilization at Böllinger Höfe, the e-tron GT secures capacity utilization. The R8 was an important brand shaper. Today, it's seen as an icon for and of Audi. Our focus currently is the electrification of our portfolio and the product initiative with more than 20 models in 2024 and 2025. We will continue to offer highly emotional derivatives to our customers. There'll be a lot of good stuff coming from Audi over the next few years. Okay, next question is from Michael Rasch from NZZ in Switzerland. He asks about the U.S. Market, where Audi has planned stronger growth for a long time compared to the EU and China. Sales levels are relatively low there. Stronger increase of sales, what's your plan to make sure it happens this time? First of all, we find that with 229,000 units, the year 2023 was the best selling year ever at Audi, +22% year-on-year. For BEV vehicles, we recorded +55% in that market. That gives us additional tailwind for our US strategy. I tried to explain this earlier during my introductory part. It's our plan to establish the US as a strong third pillar in our global footprint. That's where we see two significant specific opportunities. One is the additional electrification with highly attractive products that we are launching step by step in the market to participate in the transition towards electric. The second dimension is that the US is quite heterogeneous, so our new generation of ICE engines and highly emotional derivatives that are hugely popular in the US mean that with this two-pronged strategy, we expect to address the US market in quite a different, successful way, with huge steps towards substantially higher volumes in the US. Thank you. I think, in conclusion, because we're running out of time, would be good to go back to China. China Business News is asking, "What about collaboration between SAIC and Audi? How well is it working? And second, how is the positioning of the first new model? What's the positioning, that is?" Last year, an MOU was signed with SAIC, and it's our goal that together an intelligent, fully networked vehicle will be developed. That's what's the central part of our collaboration. A new target group we want to approach with a new market segment as well that we want to be attractive for with, in the very progressive segment. Then we will see how we can develop things. I think the headline would be the best of two worlds. That's the best way of summarizing it. Our technology strengths in design and styling, quality, dynamic driving, combining that with our technology strengths of our Chinese partner. I am firmly convinced that we will be making a compelling offer, that will enrich and expand our portfolio. Great. Thank you. That was the last question. This was the annual media conference, Audi 2024. Gernot, Jürgen, thank you so much, and thank you all in here in this room, in this hall, and thank you to everybody listening and watching online. Thank you for joining us, and quite soon, the recording will be available from our Audi MediaCenter website, and all the information, audio, video information, written information for the past fiscal year. It was great to have you. Thank you and see you next time.