German luxury car maker Audi wants to start production at its new electric car factory in Changchun, northern China, before the end of this year. This is evident from a statement that the car manufacturer distributed on Thursday in the run-up to the Beijing Motor Show next week.
Audi will only show fully electric cars at the Beijing Motor Show, with a specific focus on the Chinese market, the largest market in the world. Audi emphasizes its local approach to cars built “in China for China”. “The Chinese market is central to the transformation of the Audi brand into a global leader in offering premium electric mobility,” said Audi CEO Gernot Döllner.
The cars that Audi will build in Changchun are based on the luxury platform PPE (Premium Platform Electric), developed together with sports car builder Porsche. Audi’s joint venture in China, Audi FAW NEV, will start production of three models based on the PPE platform before the end of this year. This concerns cars from the Audi Q6 e-tron and Audi A6 e-tron model series for the Chinese market. Pre-production has already started in the new factory.
Uncertainty Audi
In our country, Audi has a factory in Forest, where the fully electric Q8 e-tron is built, a large electric SUV. There has been uncertainty about the future of the Brussels factory for some time, after it was announced that the successor to the current Q8 e-tron will no longer roll off the production line after 2027.
This year, Audi Brussels also introduced several weeks of economic unemployment, 371 temporary workers lost their jobs and production speed was reduced. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has therefore set up an Audi task force with representatives from the various governments and the management of the car factory.
De Croo said last week that he wants to move “very quickly” to complete a file before the elections that will guarantee the future of Audi Brussels. According to the Prime Minister, the approximately 3,000 employees of the VW subsidiary in Vorst must receive clarity as soon as possible. The task force will meet again in early May.