Executives had also considered building the VW Touareg/Audi Q7/Porsche Cayenne line of SUVs in the U.S. but have since ruled out the option due to the lack of suitable suppliers. The new billion dollar plant will have the capacity to build up to 200,000 vehicles a year and is expected to first start operations in late 2010 or early 2011.
Original: The spreading exchange rate differential between the strengthening euro and weakening U.S. dollar means importing European manufactured models to North America is now significantly more expensive than just a few years ago. Not surprisingly, many of Europe’s top manufacturers have moved production across the Atlantic. Volkswagen recently confirmed that it’s searching for a site in the U.S. to build a new plant and now Audi is considering doing the same.
Speaking to reporters from Automotive News, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirmed there were a number of options being considered, including joint production with Volkswagen. Audi dealer Joel Weinberger has also hinted at the possibility of a U.S. factory. “They have to build some cars here in the U.S. There is always talk of that but even if they were to decide today, it would be a good seven years before the first car rolls off the line,” he said during a recent interview.
Stadler is a little more optimistic about the timeline. He revealed Audi could be producing cars in the U.S. by as early as 2010. The move is part of the carmaker's goal to sell more cars in North America to help reach its target of 1.5 million vehicle sales per year by 2015.
The models likely to be built in the U.S. would be cars like the Q7 SUV and upcoming Q5 because Audi sells more of these models in North America than anywhere else in the world. Pictured above is the new Q7 V12 TDI Coastline Concept, which you can read about by clicking here.
Reader Comments
Wed Mar 5 2008 6:49 AM
HECTOR says
That just goes to show you that economics are a lot more complex than average dudes like us can understand. Seems manufacturing jobs are coming back to America. And that's a good thing (?).
Wed Mar 5 2008 1:19 PM
chris says
yep.. the USD is deflating, which means that commodities will become more expensive in the USA, but at the same time, you have some of the best manufacturing and skilled workforces in the world in the US, on unemployment, and to any outsider, all of a sudden, those people will work for 60% what they used to require.
to hell with audi building audis in USA for USA,.. if the dollar stabilizes and STAYS on par with the CDN dollar for example, then you may see germany using USA like they use eastern europe; cheap high quality production for affluent western european buyers.
Mon Jul 28 2008 5:38 PM
NoNameDenton says
Well, America is still an important market for them and building here means that they can sell more cars here because importing is expensive, makes good business sense.
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