The Hindu Business Line : Audi plans to ramp up capacity at Aurangabad

New Delhi, Oct. 18 Volkswagen group company Audi said it is likely to reach full capacity at its assembly plant at Aurangabad by next year. The company also indicated its plans to ramp up capacity as it expects to reach the optimum level.

“We are planning to produce 1,000 units of A4 next year and 400-500 units of A6. If we exceed our targets, we may have to expand our capacity,” said Mr Benoit Tiers, Managing Director, Audi India.

Talking at the sidelines of Wills India Fashion Week, Mr Tiers said the company had a flexible assembly line, which would allow it to expand without additional investment.

Assembly operations

The German luxury car brand, which set up its assembly operations last November, has so far produced 360 units of A6 and 150 models of A4.

The company’s plant in Aurangabad, adjacent to its sister company Skoda’s facility, has an installed capacity of 1,400 units annually.

“Our plant is very flexible and we can easily increase capacity by 20-50 per cent depending on the requirement,” said Mr Tiers. This year Audi sold 777 units of its models A4, A6, A8, and Q7 amongst others. It expects to overshoot its target of selling 1,000 units. It sells its A4 from Rs 25 lakh , A6 from Rs 39 lakh, A8 at Rs 83 lakh and Q7 at Rs 55 lakh.

The company is also open to the possibility of assembling its other models depending on the volumes.

“We are willing to assemble our entire range of products here. Once we see volumes picking up from other models, we would take a decision,” Mr Tiers said.

Audi is also embarking on an expansion drive with regard to its dealerships. It is looking to take its network to 18 cities, up from the current 9, by 2010. This would be in various cities such as Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jaipur amongst others.

Rs 1-cr model

In the first week of next month, Audi would unveil its sports car R8 priced at around Rs 1.17 crore.

The company said that even before the official launch, it had reached its allotted target of selling 15 units. “We have orders for 16 cars which we will deliver this year,” he commented. Next year, it would launch its SUV Q5, which the company could consider assembling locally based on the volumes.

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