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AUDI AG has announced significant initiatives as it sets course for sustained growth and secure jobs. The company’s Supervisory Board today decided to expand Audi’s production plant in GyÅ?r, Hungary over the next three years. The Board of Management and General Works Council also agreed to extend existing employment guarantees for both German locations in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm until Dec. 31, 2014.
“By expanding our site in GyÅ?r, we are further developing our international competitiveness and are thereby forming the right conditions to achieve our ambitious goals,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. Audi’s goal is to be the most successful maker of premium cars by 2015 and to sell 1.5 million cars per year.
In order to create the production capacity to achieve this, AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. has purchased nearly 200 hectares next to its existing factory in GyÅ?r. The land was purchased from the Hungarian government for €23 million this summer. Audi will also invest around €900 million by the end of 2013 to expand the automotive production plant. At present body shells for the Audi models assembled in GyÅ?r are produced in Ingolstadt and transported to Hungary by rail. In the future, the plant will have its own complete production chain including body manufacturing, paint shop and assembly.
Beginning in 2013 about 125,000 cars per year will roll off the line in GyÅ?r, including the Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster sports cars, the A3 Cabriolet and another A3 derivative. In addition, the car manufacturer will create 1,800 new jobs at its Hungarian site. After the plant is upgraded, Audi will support more than 15,000 jobs in the region through its permanent workforce at Audi Hungaria as well as through its service providers and suppliers.
“This expansion to create a complete automotive plant is a clear commitment to the GyÅ?r production site,” said Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management at AUDI AG for Production and Chairman of the Supervisory Commission of AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. “At the same time, this decision provides important advantages for the entire company. The hub concept allows us to compensate for temporary over- and under-capacities across locations.”
Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Human Resources, described the developments as a win-win situation: “Not only are we creating 1,800 new positions in GyÅ?r, we’re also safeguarding the jobs in Ingolstadt and Neckersulm through the development of new career fields. We are pushing forward with our involvement in important future technologies, for which Audi will be hiring around 500 new employees at both German locations during this year alone.”
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG said these safeguards were particularly important. He said: “We support Audi’s policies which are oriented on growth and employment. Not a single job in Germany is threatened by the expansion. This has been ensured until 2014 by the employment guarantee agreed by employee representatives and the Board of Management.”
For the first time, a production hub is also being arranged at GyÅ?r that will work in conjunction with the site at Ingolstadt. This means that a new A3 derivative could be built in either Hungary or Germany. “In Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, stable employment will be ensured through measures including the development of additional fields of competence – such as advanced development in lightweight construction and electromobility,” Mosch said.
The Audi Hungaria subsidiary was founded in 1993 with GyÅ?r playing a special role producing innovative and more efficient engines. Since 1998 the site has also possessed assembly capacities that are currently being used to build the Audi TT Coupé, the TT Roadster and the Audi A3 Cabriolet. With the purchase of the new parcel of land, the plant area has been enlarged from 176 to 366 hectares. Construction site preparations for the expansion of the production facilities are to begin during the current year.
