Audi Visit

To start off the day, I decided to go on a run in the park across from the hotel. Although it was wet outside, I was lucky enough to avoid the rain during my run, and the damp air felt nice. The park is very cool, complete with a pond, thicker forested areas, and open grassy areas. After the run, I came back and had a hearty breakfast of yogurt, cereal, and a meat-and-cheese sandwich, then got ready for the day ahead.

We boarded a bus with our German counterparts and took an hour-long bus trip to the Audi plant. When we arrived, we first visited the museum. This was a truly eye-opening experience, as we got to see artifacts from the long and storied history of the Audi brand. I personally did not know Audi had such a rich past, and it was really awesome to see all of their old cars, learn about the development of the firm, and also see some of their newer models.

Next, we attended a presentation given by a product development official for Audi. All of us students greatly enjoyed this presentation, where we learned about the development of the Audi brand from a four car, small player brand to a firm that has vast product lines and is a leading luxury automotive company. It was very interesting to learn how Audi went about this development, as well as how they introduce new products are preparing for change in the industry. After we attended this presentation, we toured the production facilities of the Audi A3 and saw how the cars were made from start to finish, which was a really neat process, but one I shouldn't divulge in here (for fear of BMW spies).

Finally, we took the bus back to Augsburg and had an absolutely delicious dinner at a Turkish fast food restaurant. Most of us students got sandwiches which were similar to a gyro; they were on pita bread and had roasted meat, a yogurt sauce, and vegetables. It was fantastic, and I feel like I will be having this quite often for the remainder of the trip!