Audi hit by massive Dieselgate-related cuts

Audi has had its research and development budget cut for all future models as part of huge cost-cutting measures introduced post-Dieselgate, it has been revealed by a German newspaper.

According to Der Spielgel, the German car-maker has already made an announcement to its employees that all future investments at Audi are now "under scrutiny" from parent company, Volkswagen Group, as efforts are made to slash costs in preparation for huge payouts to those affected by the crisis.

The immediate effect, says some industry commentators, is that Audi will no longer design and engineer its own platforms.

The BMW-rivalling brand has also been forced to cancel plans to develop its own crash test centre and abandon building a new state-of-the-art wind tunnel that had already been green-lit.

It's believed the biggest impact from the budget cut will be forcing cars like the next A4 and A5 to switch to the transverse engine MQB platform.

Larger A6 and A7 models, meanwhile, will be built on a short-wheelbase version of the MSB architecture the new Porsche Panamera sits on. This means Audi's next large sedan and hatch will switch from front/all-wheel drive and become standard with rear-wheel drive. More powerful models will gain all-wheel drive.

The R8 supercar's future, on the other hand, is now in jeopardy.

Under the new cost-cutting regime, the flagship Audi coupe and Spider's bespoke mid-engine platform (that's shared with the Lamborghini Huracan) is unlikely to be replaced.

This means the German car-maker's Ferrari 488 GTB rival could be axed while Lamborghini could be forced to base its next small model on a development of the Aventador's carbon-fibre monocoque -- a move that will increase costs and reduce profit for the supercar-maker.

It's not just road car spending that has been hit by the emergency measures.

It's been widely speculated by the German press that the car-maker's huge investment in LMP1 sports car racing now hangs in the balance.

Finally, the car-maker's plan for a flagship technology campus at its Ingolstadt HQ have also been cancelled. Originally, Audi wanted to promote innovation by linking with local universities.

Said to consist of an incredible 75 buildings, the new campus was set to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build, but Audi can no longer justify those costs, say local German newspapers.

According to Der Spielgel, the Volkswagen Group in just 12 months is aiming to slash costs by 10 per cent and increase the efficiency of all plants by five to eight per cent.

Already some plants have scaled back from three to two shifts daily and stopped operating on weekends. German newspapers also report that Audi is reducing the number of shifts building MLB-platform vehicles.

Ridding the brand of Audi's bespoke MLB platform will also help the car-maker save money in developing and re-engineering Volkswagen engines and transmissions that currently have to be converted from a transverse application to a longitudinal layout.

Audi reportedly makes 770,000 MLB-based vehicles annually.

The VW supervisory board is set to meet on November 18 to sign-off and approve all future spending plans for the Volkswagen Group. More cost-cutting measures could be introduced to other brands shortly after the board meets.