Volkswagen's
Audi to step up investments in 2015-19 on models, plants
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[December 27, 2014]
BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen's
<VOWG_p.DE> flagship Audi division is to increase spending on new
models, plants and technology through 2019 to push its goal of
surpassing German rival BMW as the world's largest luxury-car
manufacturer.
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Audi, which contributes 40 percent of operating profit at Europe's
biggest automotive group, said on Saturday it will push up
investment in car-making operations by 2 billion euros ($2.44
billion) to a record 24 billion euros over the next five years.
Seventy percent of spending will be assigned to developing new
models and technologies such as emission-cutting plug-in hybrid
vehicles, Audi said. The brand is also working on purely electric
cars to catch up with BMW <BMWG.DE> and Tesla Motors <TSLA.O>.
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More than half of the funds will be spent on Audi's two German
factories in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm which accounted for half the
carmaker's nine-month output of 1.34 million autos, Audi said,
confirming a Reuters story.
"We place top priority on sustainable growth," Chief Executive
Rupert Stadler said. "That’s why we are making large investments in
the innovative areas of electric mobility, connectivity and
lightweight construction."
Audi, the world's second biggest luxury automaker, is aiming to
expand its model range to 60 from currently 50 by 2020 and is
spending over 1 billion euros on new factories in Mexico and Brazil.
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Ingolstadt-based Audi said on Saturday it will hire another 850
workers in Mexico next year where the Q5 sport-utility vehicle will
be assembled from 2016.
Under its previous budget drawn up a year ago, Audi announced
investments of 22 billion euros over the 2014-18 period. Parent VW
in November unveiled auto investments of 85.6 billion euros through
2019, slightly more than a year earlier, even as the carmaker is
pushing cost cuts at its core brand.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer)
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