Audi to Invest $15.9 Billion in E-Mobility, Self-Driving Cars Over the Next 5 years

Volkswagen's premium auto brand Audi said it would invest 14 billion euros ($15.9 billion) through 2023 in electric mobility, digitalisation and autonomous driving. Overall, the company's total projected expenditure for the next five years amounts to 40 billion euros, the company said in a statement. It also plans restructuring measures that will generate 1 billion in earnings uplift already in 2018.

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"This planning round bears a clear signature: We are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be much more focused in future," said Audi's interim management board chairman Bram Schot. "We are consistently prioritizing our resources for future-oriented products and services that are highly attractive and relevant to the market."

Audi's fully electric e-tron GT concept had made its global debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show recently. Volume production is scheduled to start in late 2020. The Audi e-tron GT concept is a fully electric four-door coupé that's particularly powerful. It has two separate electric motors, fitted on the front and rear axles, for system power of 434kW, equivalent to 590 horsepower. Torque is transferred to the wheels via Quattro permanent all-wheel drive. Audi promises acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds and a top speed regulated at 240km/h.