After seven years of extensive soil remediation and construction, the time has come. The official opening of the incampus technology park was attended by Minister-President of Bavaria Markus Söder and Mayor of Ingolstadt Christian Scharpf. On the former refinery site, Audi and its partners will work on the future of mobility. Audi already has a new Vehicle Safety Center and an IT Center at the site, and the Volkswagen Group’s software company CARIAD also has its biggest tech hub there.

The new Audi Vehicle Safety Center on the incampus premises in Ingolstadt provides significantly improved and state-of-the-art crash test facilities. Around 100 million euros were invested in the facility. Among its features are a 250-meter (820 ft) run-up track, a mobile 100-ton crash block, and the ability to collide two vehicles at a 90-degree angle. As a premium brand, Audi is committed to meeting heightened requirements that go beyond current international standards.

General Motors spent $21 billion on stock buybacks during the last 12 years. It should give more money to assembly-line workers, instead.

That’s the logic of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which is staging an intensifying strike against GM, Ford, and Jeep parent Stellantis. So far, nearly 13,000 UAW members have walked off the job. The union has threatened other walkouts on a weekly basis and to ratchet up the pain on all three Detroit automakers.