Audi plans new plant, double output

Audi AG plans to more than double its production in China to 700,000 vehicles annually in coming years, starting with a new plant in Foshan, where it will build the A3 compact from 2013, autonewschina.com has reported.

"The FAW-VW joint venture, in which Audi has a stake together with Volkswagen and the Chinese partner FAW, will invest roughly 3 billion euros in the model range, production and distribution of the Audi brand in China over the next five years," Audi said in a statement. The brand's current production capacity in China totals 300,000 vehicles in Changchun, where Audi A4, A6 and Q5 models are made.

The added production will help Audi to defend its status as China's top-selling luxury brand despite aggressive expansion efforts by rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG.

Based on this year's sales, Audi soon will need more production capacity. In October, Audi sales rose 62 percent year-on-year to 27,729 cars.

In first 10 months of 2011, Audi sales in China rose 32 percent to 253,739 vehicles. Including imported models like the A8 sedan, Audi forecasts that its sales will total a record 300,000 vehicles this year.