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Herbert Diess comes out as a hobby water sports enthusiast on the new Audi surfboard
It is not uncommon for a CEO to publicly thank employees for their work. But seldom does he or she stand on an electric surfboard. But that is exactly what VW boss Herbert Diess has now done and posted the video on Twitter.
Diess wore a wetsuit and helmet and was riding an Audi e-surfboard up and down the Mittelland Canal in front of the VW plant in Wolfsburg. He thanked them for the efforts of the employees who had contributed to VW’s good half-year results. Then he wished the employees a happy holiday.
I want to thank our employees for a sensational first half of the year!
It was difficult, but we achieved an enormous amount together. Thank you very much for your efforts. I hope that you are recovering in your holidays. @VWGroup @Autostadt pic.twitter.com/52ubUtR0AD
– Herbert Diess (@Herbert_Diess) July 29, 2021
VW posted a record profit of 11.4 billion euros in the first half of 2021. The group turnover was almost 130 billion euros. The second message from Diess was that Audi was making an electric surfboard. He had ordered one himself and might get it for his summer vacation.
So Diess also does some product placement. Anyway, this thing is interesting. It is similar to the Fliteboard introduced a year and a half ago and is officially called Audi e-tron foil by Aerofoils. An 80 centimeter long mast is attached to the underside of the surfboard, to which a hydrofoil with an electric drive is attached. With a remote control for the drive in hand you should be able to surf for an hour; the maximum speed is 50 km / h. The thing has recently been available to order, but it costs the small thing of 12,499 euros.
With the surf video, VW shows again how press work and marketing have changed in the group. In the past there would have been a press release, today you tweet and are sure to get more attention.
When it comes to using Twitter, Herbert Diess also follows the example of Elon Musk, whom he values personally, as he has shown – he even almost became a Tesla employee. With the video, Diess shows that he can perhaps use Twitter even better than Musk – the Tesla boss would probably not have the opportunity to produce such a professional video.
In any case, we found the unusual appearance a lot more likeable than the teaser films for Audi’s "Sphere" design studies, which reminded us of the appearance of an insurance agent. Maybe that’s a matter of taste. Volkswagen of America recently demonstrated that viral marketing can really, really go wrong with its unfortunate "Voltwagen" joke shown: Here the line to mislead was exceeded.
More bizarre: 
Porsche Taycan Turbo S reaches 165 km / h – in an exhibition hall
Physics lesson: Can an electric smart tow three fat US trucks?
The ManagerMagazin We owe the reference to a possible role model for the video: Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is surfing on an electric surfboard on the US National Day (July 4th) – without a word, but with the American flag fluttering:
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