March 27, 2014 – Audi emphasised its role as an important partner in international winter sports with new commitments. Starting in the 2014/2015 season, the company will also support the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, the men’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, including the Four Hills Tournament, and the FIS Ski Flying World Championships in 2016 and 2018.

The new partnerships mark the logical continuation of the winter sports activities in which Audi has so far been involved and the close collaboration with FIS. Audi has already given its name to the FIS Ski World Cup and the FIS Ski Cross World Cup as well as partnering with the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. The brand will present the next two FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2015 and 2017 and, as the partner of 16 National Ski Associations, has been supporting the athletes for many years.

“We’re delighted about intensifying the collaboration with FIS within the scope of our new partnerships,” says Giovanni Perosino, Head of Marketing Communications of AUDI AG. “Alpine, Nordic and Freestyle – for us, the entire diversity of disciplines in which Audi is now present symbolically stands for quattro permanent four-wheel drive. It offers an outstanding driving experience – of confidence, safety and sportiness – in any situation.”

“Audi is a valuable partner of FIS and has become a fixture in international winter sports. We’re pleased that our excellent cooperation is now being extended even further. It’s good news for all athletes and fans,” said FIS President Gian Franco Kasper.

All of the new partnerships are based on long-term agreements, with the nordic disciplines not being new to Audi. Until 2003, the brand was a partner of the Four Hills Tournament and in 2003 and 2005, it was one of the principal sponsors of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Through partnerships with the national teams, Alpine skiers as well as Nordic Combined skiers and ski jumpers have already been regular guests in Ingolstadt to hone their body position aerodynamics and optimise their material using the wind tunnel. The TV commercial from the nineteen-eighties in which an Audi 100 quattro drives up a ski jump without any assistance has retained its cult status to this day. Through the enlarged commitment it has now acquired new relevance.