Looking to sidestep European currency fluctuations and increase inventory levels, Audi has decided to build its first North American plant as the expanding automaker tries to increase U.S. sales to 150,000 units by 2015.
“It’s not a matter of if we will do a plant in North America, but when,” Audi of America president Johan de Nysschen told WardsAuto. “The decision to do a plant, technically we’ve reached that conclusion. It’s a matter now of waiting to pull the trigger.”
A location for the plant has not yet been settled upon, de Nysschen stated, though Mexico is a likely candidate due to its relatively low labor costs and advantageous free-trade agreements.
“One advantage of Mexico is that you could support the growing markets down in South America, Brazil,” de Nysschen. “More so, you have the benefit of exporting cars into Europe duty-free.
“But there are many other significant, compelling cases for setting up the plant in the U.S.,” he said. “I can confirm that no final decision has been made.”
Audi will not make use of corporate parent Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, as that factory’s output will likely be maxed out by production of Jetta and Passat models.
Wherever it ends up being built, the new plant could be at least a few years away, as de Nysschen stated that there will need to be one Audi model line with annual U.S. sales of 100,000 units to make the factory financially feasible. Audi’s entire lineup recorded 117,500 sales in America last year.
References
1.’Audi plant a…’ view
