Audi and FC Bayern München are starting the new Bundesliga season in sporty style both on and off the pitch.

At the Audi Piazza in Ingolstadt, players and coaches received their new company cars from Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler. The trend is clear: together with new signing Mats Hummels far more than half of the football players opted for one of the sporty RS models.

As always, for the squad of Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng and Franck Ribéry the event in Ingolstadt was a highlight in its preparation for the new Bundesliga season that kicks off on Friday night. And hundreds of fans from the region, plus numerous Audi employees had the opportunity to see their stars at close range and to get autographs. For Coach Carlo Ancelotti it was the first visit to Ingolstadt.

FC Bayern München and Audi have been forming a team since the summer of 2002 and are now starting their 15th joint season. Highlights of the partnership include the Audi Cup that has been held as a preparatory tournament at the Allianz Arena every two years since 2009 or the Audi Summer Tour abroad. Just a few weeks ago, the brand accompanied Bayern’s training camp to the United States where the team met with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

The squad’s choice of favourite cars reflects true team spirit, with 15 players opting for an Audi RS 6 (including Holger Badstuber, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcántara) and an Audi RS 7 (including Mats Hummels, Franck Ribéry and Robert Lewandowski) as particularly sporty models. New signing Renato Sanches selected a perfect car for urban traffic, the Audi A3 Sportback. Coach Carlo Ancelotti had already received his Audi S8 plus in July.