Audi Singapore Club

From the classroom to working life: 508 apprentices and 24 dual degree program students are about to start their professional career at Audi. The brand with the Four Rings has been training apprentices at the Ingolstadt location for 70 years, offering apprenticeships for a total of 17 professions that range from mechatronics technicians all the way to qualified medical employees. Dieter Omert, head of vocational education and specialist competence development at Audi says: “A successful apprenticeship opens up exciting opportunities to our junior employees, with varied possibilities for development.” General Works Council Chairman Peter Mosch also stresses the importance of vocational training for the company: “Especially in the current period of change, we need young, inquisitive people with a fresh approach to the topics that Audi is working on.”

With the dual degree program, Audi offers a sound, practice-oriented qualification in future skills relating to connected automobiles and systems, data management, or modern communication systems. The apprentices not only acquire practical expertise in the education center or at learning stations, but also obtain theoretical knowledge at the vocational school. Audi has now also introduced this successful concept of dual education at all locations abroad. In addition to vocational education, the company also offers the dual degree program
“Audi dual.” The curriculum for this program includes practical assignments at the company in addition to theoretical modules. To this end, the automotive manufacturer cooperates with the technical college in Ingolstadt (Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt) and the Technical University of Munich. The automotive company guarantees students and apprentices who have completed their training successfully a permanent position at the company.

The application period for apprenticeships and degree programs starting in 2020 has already started. Applicants can submit their applications via the Audi careers website until September 15. Further information is available at www.audi.com/en/career/pupils/apprenticeship.html and www.audi.com/en/career/pupils/dual-studies-bachelor.html. 

With plenty of visible carbon fibre and a conspicuously bright orange livery which accentuate the lines across the whole car: The Audi e-tron FE06 clearly appears even more aggressive than its predecessor in which Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi achieved the runner-up position for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler in the hard-fought team’s championship last season. The fully electric race car will make its racing debut in Ad Diriyah (Saudi Arabia) on November 22/23. Next week, motorsport fans will be able to see the FE06 at the Audi booth at the IAA (Hall 3).

“Compliments to the design team at Audi,” says the most successful German Formula E driver Daniel Abt. “I’ve been keeping track of the visual development over the last few weeks and think the result is brilliant – the car simply looks aggressive and fast.” His teammate, Lucas di Grassi, is sure: “The fans are going to immediately recognise our car from the grandstands or on television. Each livery in the five seasons has had its own unique character, but the FE06 is my favourite. Now it’s up to the whole team to also make it a success.”

While Audi pursued new paths with the design, including the selection of the orange that takes cues from the color palette in which the road-going Audi e-tron was previously presented, the team relies on continuity in all other respects: Abt and di Grassi, the most successful driver pairing in the entire field will start their sixth season together. The Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team will also continue to rely on its long-standing partners: Besides technology partner Schaeffler, who together with Audi is responsible for the development of the powertrain, HYLA, ITK Engineering, the LGT Group, KUKA, MASCOT, Riello UPS and Würth Elektronik also remain on board. 

The SONAX brand is new to the team. The leading manufacturer of car care products has been closely linked to motorsport for decades and also supported Daniel Abt during his still young career. “We’re delighted that a new chapter is being opened in our long-standing partnership with ABT and that we’ll be able to present ourselves as a partner of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team in Formula E in the future. The fascinating environment of the series provides our brand with great prospects of reaching even more potential customers worldwide,” says SONAX Head of Marketing Franz Fischer.

The schedule before the first race is tight: Following the intensive private testing phase in Germany and Europe and the preparation of the two race cars during the next few weeks, the team will travel to Valencia in the middle of October for the official Formula E pre-season test, where all of the teams and drivers will meet for three days. At the beginning of November, the cars and equipment will be loaded to be airfreighted to Ad Diriyah.

Video: The new Audi e-tron FE06 on track

Daniel Weissland was born on March 26, 1973 in Gunzenhausen, Germany.

After an industrial apprenticeship (skilled electrician) at the German Federal Railways (Deutsche Bundesbahn) in Munich, he studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. He completed his education with an MBA at the same university.

Daniel Weissland began his career at Audi in 1999. In the following years, he held positions in the areas of sales, marketing and product management.

In 2005, Weissland was part of the team that founded the National Sales Company (NSC) for Volkswagen and Audi in Dubai. As Sales Director and Deputy Managing Director, he was responsible for the Near and Middle Eastern markets. From 2007 to 2010, he was Assistant to the Board of Management Member for Marketing and Sales of AUDI AG. In 2011, he became Director for Sales Southern Europe at AUDI AG. In this position, he was responsible for a sustainable dealer network and gained leadership of the premium segment for the company in Spain and Greece.

Daniel Weissland moved to Canada in 2015, where he held various positions until 2019: CEO of Audi Canada (2015-2017), President of Volkswagen Group Canada (2017-2019) and President of Volkswagen Canada (2018-2019).

Since September 1, 2019, Daniel Weissland has been President of Audi of America. 

“W49 – New Start in Ingolstadt” temporary exhibition at Audi museum mobile:

September 3, 1949, marks an important date in the history of AUDI AG. The founding of Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt on this day launched a new chapter in the history of the automobile manufacturer, which had previously been based in Germany’s federal state of Saxony. Four years after the end of the war, the company commenced production in old buildings of the former Ingolstadt fortress. This was the start of a success story for both the car manufacturer and Ingolstadt.

With the “W49” exhibit, Audi takes a very special look back on the connection between the company and the city. “49” stands for the year it all began. The “W” originally meant “West” and distinguished the first motorcycle built in Ingolstadt from those built in the “East.” In the description of the exhibition organizers, however, the “W” symbolizes more – including the many chapters of the mutual relationship between both partners over the years, described with German words that begin with the letter: “Weggang” (departure), “Wiederaufbau” (reconstruction), “Wagemut” (adventurousness), “Wachstum” (growth), “Wirtschaftskraft” (economic strength) and “Wandel der Zeit” (change over time). The small company named Auto Union GmbH has since evolved into a premium manufacturer of automobiles with worldwide operations, and the small provincial town has developed into a dynamic and economically strong city – Audi and Ingolstadt.

The new temporary exhibition shows the company’s first ten years in Ingolstadt from 1949 to 1959 – and quite deliberately in a double sense: The images allow the visitor to change perspective, offering a view through “Audi glasses” as well as from the viewpoint of the city. Audi is exhibiting the first products of the newly founded Auto Union GmbH, including the DKW Schnelllaster and the DKW RT 125 W motorcycle, as well as other important models from the early automotive production. The exhibition also examines the underlying conditions in the company’s new home, from the political restart with a young democracy and the refugees of the day to daily life and the reconstruction in Ingolstadt.

“One Plant – 1,000 Stories” Special exhibition in the building Market and Customer (Markt und Kunde, A51): 

The plant in the north of Ingolstadt has been the heart of the Audi Group for more than 60 years now. Today a team of about 44,000 people work to maintain the company’s “Vorsprung durch Technik.” The brand with the four rings moved into its new production facilities in the summer of 1959. The exhibition in the building Market and Customer A51 focuses on the milestones and highlights of the Ingolstadt site from the end of the 1950s to today. The plant is not the only thing that has evolved. For example, a series of pictures also shows how the Audi logo has changed over time. It still consisted of the so-called “Audi oval” in 1978. The four rings didn’t take its place until 1985. They symbolize the brands Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. The journey through time includes important models like the DKW Junior de Luxe, the rebirth of Audi in 1965, and the absolute bestsellers for the site – the Audi 80 and Audi A4. The legendary quattro drive is also given its due in this special exhibition. One commercial from the past sparked a furor at the time: In 1986, rally driver Harald Demuth drove an Audi 100 CS quattro up the Pitkävuori ski jump in Finland. A series of photos shows this historical highlight and remakes of the commercial in 2005 and 2019.

“Consistently Future” special exhibition in the Audi Piazza:

Audi is positioning itself for the future. In a pavilion in the Audi Piazza, the company is presenting a preview of future investments in the Ingolstadt location. Among other things, the new “Ingolstadt Audi” train stop and the IN-Campus are being presented. The train stop, which will be Ingolstadt’s third train station, is due to open in December 2019. The new central platform will feature a barrier-free connection to both the Audi plant and the public transport network. The IN-Campus is being built in the east of the city of Ingolstadt. IN-Campus GmbH, a joint venture of AUDI AG and the city of Ingolstadt, is refurbishing the site of a former oil refinery for the project and converting it into a technology park – transforming it from a refinery site to a cutting-edge technology center.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Second place at Watkins Glen: Team Rearden Racing impressed with a strong performance on the sixth race weekend of the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX at Watkins Glen. In a field of 23 entrants, Vesko Kozarov/Jeff Burton in the first of two races finished runners-up in an Audi R8 LMS GT4. Consequently, as previously in the second event in Virginia, they scored the full number of points in the AM classification for the third time. 

Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup

Rogalski extends lead of the standings: Robin Rogalski only needed two third places on the fifth race weekend of the Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup to slightly extend his lead of the standings. The German had traveled to Most with a bolster of 16 points and returned with a 17-point advantage. He showed his strongest performance in the first round when he claimed a podium finish after starting from sixth on the grid. Like a week earlier at the Lausitzring, rookie Maximilian Paul again won both races on the Czech race track. His best immediate rival in the first heat was Tim Reiter, who stood on the podium for the first time. In the second race, Jedrzej Szczesniak from Poland took second position and thus kept the runner-up’s spot in the standings in front of the Swiss Rudolf Rhyn. Szczesniak benefited from an error on Reiter’s part because the 20-year-old student thought the race had ended one lap before the finish. 

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Two victories at Watkins Glen: Michael McCann Jr. managed an impeccable weekend in the TC America. The American with Team McCann Racing won both sprint races in an Audi RS 3 LMS with more than a two-second advantage in the sixth event at Watkins Glen. In the TCR Cup class, one driver was dominant throughout the weekend as well: Canadian Travis Hill in an Audi RS 3 LMS with a dual-clutch transmission scored class victory in both races for TWOth Autosport.

Third victory for Audi in TCR Italy: On the fifth race weekend of the TCR Italy an Audi driver won a race for the third time. Enrico Bettera, who had previously stood on the top step of the podium at the opening event at Monza, was again unbeatable in the first race at Imola in an Audi RS 3 LMS. During the course of 14 laps, he pulled clear of his closest rival by 3.4 seconds. In the standings, he is ranked in fourth position in the 23-strong field as the best Audi driver. In the second race, Jacopo Guidetti in another Audi RS 3 LMS achieved third position. 

Second victory in the TCR DSG Endurance: Ermanno Dionisio and Giacomo Barri won a round of the TCR DSG Endurance for the second time. Following their success at Vallelunga in May, the driver pairing from BF Motorsport prevailed again at Imola, with a one-second advantage after two hours of racing. In the standings, the two drivers as runners-up have reduced their gap to Alessandro and Giovanni Altoè by eight to 18 points before the finale. At the same time, Dionisio before the finale at Mugello in October is leading the Gentleman classification of the endurance racing series. 

Commanding performance in China: The Audi RS 3 LMS dominated its class in the third round of the China Endurance Championship. Team New Faster after 93 race laps locked out the podium. The victorious driver trio of Sun Junlong/Liang Zhiwei/Zou Balong won the endurance race at Shanghai with a one-lap advantage.

Russell Ingall on podium again: In the TCR Australia, Russell Ingall continued his string of podium results in an Audi RS 3 LMS. The 55-year-old touring car expert, who on the fourth race weekend had clinched a third and two second places, secured another trophy in the fifth event at Winton. In the third sprint on the circuit in the South Australian state of Victoria, he crossed the finish line for the Melbourne Performance Centre in third position. 

Coming up next week

06–07/09 Zolder (B), rounds 13 and 14, DMV GTC

06–08/09 Hungaroring (H), rounds 9 and 10, Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe

06–08/09 Tianjin (CN), rounds 9 and 10, China GT Championship

06–08/09 Brno (CZ), rounds 11 and 12, Eset V4 Cup

07/09 Nürburgring (D), round 6, VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring

07/09 Velo Città (BR), round 5, Endurance Brasil

07–08/09 Sochi (RUS), rounds 13 and 14, TCR Russia

07–08/09 Silverstone (GB), rounds 9 and 10, International GT Open

07–08/09 Silverstone (GB), rounds 7 and 8, GT Open Cup

07–08/09 Autopolis (J), round 6, Super GT

07–08/09 Brno (CZ), rounds 14 and 15, FIA CEZ

07–08/09 Jyllandsringen (DK), rounds 11 and 12, TCR Scandinavia

08/09 Wakefield (AUS), rounds 7 and 8, CAMS NSW Production Sports Car Championship

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