Audi to decide 2009 on U.S. plant

Audi A1 Metroproject Quattro

: No A1 for U.S. Market

FRANKFURT- Volkswagen's unit Audi will decide in spring 2009 on whether to build its own plant in the United States, CEO Rupert Stadler told Handelsblatt newspaper in an interview.

"But of course it is also imaginable that we build cars together with Volkswagen in its planned U.S. factory," he said.

He said Audi has no plans to launch its planned compact car A1, which will rival BMW's Mini model, in the United States and will rather concentrate on introducing new generations of its A4 and Q5 models.

"The Americans still want big cars, but with increasing fuel efficiency," he said.

To boost sales, Audi also plans to jump on the bandwagon of electric cars, and Stadler said Audi plans to launch its own electric model in a "similar timeframe" as Volkswagen, which would be by 2010.

"This topic has top priority for Audi because it secures our mobility in the long term," he said.

The company's target of selling 1.5 million cars a year by 2015 is still "realistic," despite headwinds from exchange rate fluctuations, environmental regulations and surging fuel prices.

[Source : Automotive News .. Sub req.]