New plant in China to build Audi A3 from 2013

· Foshan: Second plant for Audi in China

· Chairman Rupert Stadler: “Important milestone in our growth strategy for China”

· Expansion of total capacity in China to as many as 700,000 cars a year

Ingolstadt/Foshan – Audi is to strengthen its presence significantly in China and start production at a new plant in southern China from 2013. FAW-VW is currently setting up a full production facility in Foshan with press shop, body shop, paint shop and assembly, on a site covering 100 hectares. The factory will employ around 4,000 people from 2013. The FAW-VW joint venture, in which Audi has an interest together with its Chinese partner FAW and Volkswagen, is to invest around three billion euros in China in products, production and sales of the Audi brand in the next five years.

“Our ties with China and our partner FAW date back more than 20 years,” explained Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, at the ceremony announcing the new production site. “In order to be able to tackle future challenges together as well, we want to strengthen our presence significantly in China and further strengthen our strategic partnership. The new plant is an important milestone in our long-term growth strategy in China.”

A ceremony to announce the new site was held in Foshan today. As well as Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, and the entire Audi Board of Management, it was attended by Professor Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG, Xu Jianyi, President of the FAW Group Corporation, and An Tiecheng, President of FAW-VW, as well as leading government representatives of the Guangdong province.

Audi has already been represented – along with its partner FAW – in the north Chinese city of Changchun for more than 20 years where it builds long-wheelbase versions of the Audi A4 and Audi A6 as well as the Audi Q5. Production capacity in Changchun will increase to between 500,000 and 550,000 cars in the next few years, with a production volume of around 150,000 to 200,000 cars planned for Foshan. This means that both plants together will have a potential of up to 700,000 cars a year. A new member of the Audi A3 family is planned to be produced at the Foshan site.

Audi is the market leader in the premium segment in China and delivered 253,739 cars to customers (incl. Hong Kong) from January through October, 32 percent more than in the prior-year period. The sales total is expected to exceed 300,000 cars for the first time by the end of the year.