Audi employees earn big $8,000+ bonuses

Audi had a fantastic year of sales in 2007. Among a number of record-setting statistics, sales rose 7.9 percent to $33.6 billion euros ($51.5 billion). Fortunately for Audi employees, the automaker recognizes that its fantastic fiscal performance wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of each and every little guy. Audi has decided to take some of its profits, around 222 million euro, and distribute it among some 45,000 employees at its Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm operations via the company's extended employee profit sharing plan. The average Audi worker will get a 5,300 euro bonus, which equates to $8,138 USD. That's a 43% increase compared to the bonuses handed out last year, and enough to buy a bitchin' plasma TV with enough left over for a PS3 (or pay bills, whatever). Of course, the bonus varies per worker and consists of a undisclosed base amount, a seniority bonus and then the part that represents how well the company did that year. Regardless, Audi employees should be pretty pleased with themselves come pay day.
[Source: Audi, The Detroit News]

PRESS RELEASE

2008 profit sharing: Audi distributes an average of €5,300 per employee
  • €222 million profit sharing paid to employees in 2008
  • Human Resources Chief Dr. Werner Widuckel: "Audi's success is securing employment and creating new jobs"
  • General Works Council Chairman Peter Mosch: "Distribution is good news for employees"
AUDI AG's outstanding results in fiscal 2007 are paying off for the around 45,000 employees at its German locations in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm: The company will be distributing €222 million (154)* to its employees this year. "Audi's success is always first and foremost the success of our people," said Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Human Resources. "Their commitment to the economic success of the company helps to secure employment and should benefit each and every employee."

The extended employee profit sharing plan ("eMEB") was contained in the agreement named "Audi's Future – Performance, Success, Sharing" between the General Works Council and the company's management in April 2005. The extended employee profit sharing plan is a voluntary, non-contractual and success-based element of employees' pay. At its Annual Press Conference, Audi announced the highest profit from operating activities in the company's history: €2,705 (2,015) million. Ten percent of the operating profit above a baseline of €1.2 billion, i.e. €150 million, will be distributed to employees in May of this year for this success-based element alone.
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council at AUDI AG, said: "The 'Audi's Future' agreement is increasingly paying off with a view to securing the locations and enabling the workforce to financially share in the company's success. The average distribution of nearly €5,300 to those employees covered by the collective-bargaining agreement is good news for the people working in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, who are being rewarded for their outstanding commitment."

This year marks the third time that distributions are being paid under the extended employee profit sharing plan, in addition to the former employee profit sharing plan ("MEB"). The employee profit sharing plan consists of a base amount, a seniority-based bonus, as well as a variable share of the company's success. An average of €1,700 per employee will be paid in July.

In doing so, Audi is rewarding the achievements of its people this year with a bonus (MEB and eMEB) averaging nearly €5,300 (3,700). This represents 43 percent more than the year before.

Audi invests €2 billion a year in new products, alone. Over the course of the next eight years, the carmaker will be expanding the number of vehicle models in its portfolio from 25 today to 40. This year, Audi will be covering its higher demand for university graduates, primarily engineers, by hiring 800 new people. "In doing so, our growth targets are not only securing employment, but are also creating new jobs," said Widuckel. Audi is again providing apprenticeships in 20 vocations for some 700 young people this year.
*)Previous year's numbers in parentheses.

AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. 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 Lamborghini S.p.A. in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi employs more than 54,000 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 nearly double the number of models in its portfolio by 2015, from the 25 currently on offer to 40.

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