Audi: Hot!

Business Week is writing that Audi is "hot". Of course we already knew it, but now it comes to a wider recognition.

Chef Sache. That's German for "the boss's business." And when it's the boss's business at Audi, watch out. Each month, Audi's compulsive chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, rolls up his sleeves and leads a trouble-shooting session with managers and engineers at the company's electronics center, zeroing in on faulty systems and problem parts. Winterkorn's rules: no shifting the blame to anyone else, such as suppliers. No phone calls to subordinates -- the brains to remedy the defects better be in the room. And no one leaves until a fix is found.

Audi's 53,000 workers -- fiercely proud of the company's engineering heritage, which goes back to founder August Horch -- are as obsessed as Winterkorn with building cars that outshine BMW and Mercedes. Production Chief Frank Dreves pauses in the lobby of headquarters to make a point about the latest A3 Sportback. "Feel this," says Dreves, running his fingers over a nearly invisible laser-welded seam between the roof of the tomato red car and the side panel. "This is normally a gutter in every car. We invented a new laser welding process to eliminate the gutter to reduce interior noise. None of our competitors bothers to do this."

Forging a luxury brand has also required stand-out design. In 2002, Piëch lured Italian designer Walter Maria de Silva to Audi from Alfa Romeo. A year later, De Silva unveiled a bold, more sculptured look for the A6 and A8 sedans that started hitting the market last year. The deep front grille, now being extended through most of the model line, gives Audi an edgier look.

Source: Business Week

Audi: Hot!

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