Stakeholder management at Audi: balancing strategic opportunities and governance requirements
In a corporate landscape that is increasingly shaped by regulatory ESG-/ sustainability-related requirements, stakeholders have rising expectations concerning companies’ sustainability performance. Therefore, regular and transparent engagements with relevant stakeholders are essential for Audi in order to gain the trust of stakeholders, strengthen the relationship with prioritized stakeholders, fulfill governance requirements and create a solid information basis for corporate decisions. This is especially crucial as Audi transitions into a provider of premium electric mobility, while gradually phasing out internal combustion engines.
By Roxana Codita
Traditionally, stakeholder management has been an integral part of the continuous sustainability strategy development process at Audi, serving as an instrument to validate, challenge and enrich Audi’s strategic approach as well as to increase stakeholder trust and reputation. Regular stakeholder engagement formats have been conducted to discuss Audi’s approach in strategic focus areas such as decarbonization, circular economy or electromobility.
Stakeholder management from a strategic and governance perspective
As sustainability aspects, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, have become integral to the daily operations of departments across all functional areas, stakeholder engagement activities have expanded and diversified.
Therefore, from a steering perspective, a central stakeholder management role has the task of balancing the strategic and governance elements by defining clear guidelines, leveraging synergies through best practice and enhancing transparency internally and externally. In the following lines, some aspects of this process are highlighted.
Prioritization of stakeholders
To ensure effective stakeholder management, relevant internal and external stakeholders are prioritized following the ESRS 1 guidelines, GRI 2 as well as the AAA 1000 Stakeholder Engagement standard. Accordingly, stakeholders are those who can affect or be affected by the company’s activities through direct and indirect business relationships across the entire value chain. This includes also users of sustainability statements, especially financial market participants, but also business partners, trade unions and social partners, civil society and NGOs.
At the strategic level, Audi maps stakeholders based on two dimensions: 1) power of the stakeholder over the company and 2) level of dependency of the stakeholder on the company. The same logic can be applied to identify relevant stakeholder groups for specific topics.
Engagement formats
Appropriate engagement formats are identified according to the defined targets as well as the interests of the stakeholder groups. Audi’s stakeholder engagements spans various levels as depicted in the exhibit below. This includes, among other things, publishing a voluntary integrated report based on GRI standards (inform), conducting a double materiality analysis according to ESRS standards with strong stakeholder engagement through semi-structured interviews (consult), organizing stakeholder dialogues on specific topics and participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives like the UN Global Compact (involve & collaborate), and actively engaging in “Sustainability Practice Groups” within the VW Group Sustainability Council (empower).
Leveraging synergies
To streamline due diligence processes and ensure transparency at an aggregate level, an annual internal stakeholder report is published that consolidates sustainability-related stakeholder engagements across Audi. The report illustrates which stakeholder groups provided feedback on addressed topics and how this feedback was integrated into decision-making processes. Thus, synergies, potential white-spots as well as priorities of different stakeholder groups can be identified and flow into the planning process of next year’s engagements.
Looking ahead: navigating new regulatory requirements
Companies face a dynamic regulatory environment shaped by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). These frameworks demand deeper integration of ESG principles into business operations and governance. Both directives emphasize stakeholder engagement as a key element of ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustainability in corporate practices. Therefore, stakeholder engagement is expected to undergo a realignment phase shaped by the following aspects, among others:
the importance of stakeholder engagement within the double materiality analysis will rise, being a key instrument that takes a multi-dimensional perspective including impacts, risks and opportunities across value chain activities, now and in the future.
the importance of engagements in multi-stakeholder initiatives will rise, driven by the increasing demands on stakeholders and companies.
companies will need to leverage existing formats and create synergies in terms of due diligence processes and strategy development.
Given all this, Audi, as a premium provider of sustainable mobility, recognizes that proactively building and maintaining long-term stakeholder relationships beyond regulatory compliance is the key to unlocking strategic opportunities, gaining valuable insights, and fostering trust.
Dr Roxana Codita
leads governance and strategic projects in AUDI AG’s sustainability team, focusing on stakeholder management, double materiality, regulatory foresight, and CSR. With a strong academic background, she is also an associate lecturer in corporate sustainability at TU Munich.