Posted on Friday 18 April 2008
A number of European carmakers are seriously considering starting production in the U.S. to take advantage of the low dollar and to improve production and logistic efficiencies of popular import models in North America. Volkswagen has already confirmed it’s looking for a new site in the U.S. to build a factory and Fiat has also revealed it’s considering the move and Audi, too, is thinking of doing the same.
One major advantage Audi has is that it can borrow capacity at VW’s future American plant. CEO Rupert Stadler first hinted in March that U.S. production of some Audi models was a possibility and now he’s told reporters at Auto Motor und Sport that a final decision would be made in a year.
Audi has set itself a goal of building 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2015 and to produce at that level the carmaker will need to expand its current capacity. That is likely to be the main reason why management is looking at a new production site in the U.S. As Stadler pointed out during the interview, the weak dollar is not the main reason. Rather, Audi has a long-term strategy in mind.
One condition Stadler has is that a majority of the vehicles manufactured in the U.S. will need to be sold locally. If Audi were to build a new plant its output would likely be in excess of 150,000 vehicles per year but at present Audi only sells about 100,000 cars per year in North America. This number will have to increase by at least 50% before there’s any chance Audi will start production in the States.
yep, so that means its going to be a volume car like the A3 or A4.
If you don’t build cars here, they will be too expensive to import.
BMW figured this out a long time ago.
BMW uber Alles