German carmaker Audi has launched a new free-to-download smartphone app that tracks a business driver’s journeys using GPS mapping technology, and calculates the cost generated through travel.
The car brand believes the technology means that the days of keeping receipts and records of travel are now behind us due to the new Audi Mileage Tracker app, currently available from the iTunes store, which is designed to equip businesses with a streamlined method to track and quantify all business expenses.
The app enables users to enter the amount normally claimed in travel expenses per mile or kilometre and apply this to a particular journey, all of which is logged in real time using GPS mapping.
At the end of the journey the exact amount owed as a business expense is recorded, and can be transferred to a spreadsheet showing all the applicable trips taken over a given period. This can then be emailed to a home or business computer for expense claims.
Audi promises that the calculation provided is always absolutely accurate, even allowing the user to track a number of journeys across a time frame using the start/stop function each time they leave the office.
Expenses are calculated using the exact route taken during any given journey, ensuring that users don’t need to factor in excess costs from unavoidable hindrances with congestion and diverted traffic. The app can even point them in the direction of their nearest Audi Centre if they need expert assistance.
In 2011 Audi recorded its best ever worldwide result of 1,302,650 sales, a 19 per cent improvement over 2010. In the UK, 113,703 Audi models found homes last year, a 14 per cent increase on 2010.
To sustain the technological lead embodied in its Vorsprung durch Technik slogan, the brand plans to invest €13 billion, mainly in new products, between 2011 and 2015. By this point, its range will have expanded from today’s 39 models to a total of 42.
