Audi to spend nearly $16 billion on self-driving car tech, electrification through 2023

Audi, the Germany luxury automaker under VW Group, said Tuesday it will invest 14 billion euros ($15.95 billion) over the next five years on future transportation technologies such as electric mobility, autonomous driving and digital services.

These investments, made through 2023, will include spending on property, factories and equipment as well as research and development. Audi’s total projected expenditure for the 5-year planning period will be 40 billion euros ($45.6 billion), the company announced Tuesday.

“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. We are consistently prioritizing our resources for future-oriented products and services that are highly attractive and relevant to the market,” according to Bram Schot, temporary chairman of the Board of Management of Audi.

Audi’s investment announcement Tuesday continues the company’s previously stated plans to develop electric vehicles. Back in 2015, then Audi of America president Scott Keogh said that by 2025 at least one quarter of all Audi cars sold in the U.S. will have a plug.

The company unveiled in September its first all-electric SUV, the e-tron. By 2025, Audi says it will offer 20 electrified models (that includes hybrids). About 10 of those vehicles will have all-electric drive systems. The automaker is also investing in digital services such as “on demand” functions.

At the same time, Audi is pushing forward with the digitalization of its automobiles and plants, and is expanding its business model with new digital services such as “functions on demand.”