Audi’s new Mexico
plant confirms development goals in America
Rupert Stadler,
Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG (right), and Governor
Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, head of government of the Mexican federal
state of Puebla (left), signing the Golden Book of AUDI AG
Ingolstadt - In
building a new plant in San José Chiapa in Mexico’s federal state of
Puebla, Audi intends to utilize the American continent’s enormous growth
potential even more systematically. Speaking at an information visit by
Governor Rafael Moreno Valle, head of government of the Mexican federal
state of Puebla, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of
AUDI AG, said building the new plant in Mexico would serve to achieve
important development goals.
“The location of Mexico provides us with
an ideal basis from which to intensify our global growth,” Stadler said
on the occasion of the visit by the Mexican government delegation from
Puebla. A stable economic growth of up to five percent per year makes
Mexico the growth engine of Latin America, he continued. As a new
mainstay of Audi production, Mexico would also be instrumental in
achieving the company’s strategic goals, he added. “Competitive cost
structures and diverse free trade agreements with North and South
American markets and with Europe,” Stadler said, “will help us further
increase our sales.”
In April this year, Audi had taken the
important decision to build a new production facility in Mexico. It has
been clear since early September that the new plant will be built in San
José Chiapa and will become the venue for production of the new
generation of the Audi Q5 from early 2016. “The government and the
administration of our federal state are currently fulfilling all the
necessary requirements for a timely start of construction on the
selected site,” said Rafael Moreno Valle, Governor of Puebla, at the
headquarters of AUDI AG in Ingolstadt on Tuesday. Preparations for
construction have already been completed, he stated. The timetable for
the imminent ground and utility works on the 400 hectare lot will be
structured so that work on the first building elements can begin as
early as spring 2013, he added. “We will do everything to make available
the developed land in San José Chiapa successively within the agreed
framework,” said Moreno Valle.
Besides providing the site for the
erection of the plant, authorities in Puebla state are currently
upgrading the infrastructure around the location, which is about 60
kilometers (37.28 miles) south of Puebla City. This includes the
government investing in the road and rail network and connecting the
location to two superhighways. Also, crucial utility and education
facilities need to be created. A new training center will be among the
first structures to be built, ensuring that qualification of the future
Audi employees can begin early. This will also guarantee an excellent
level of resource efficiency for the new plant in Mexico, said Chairman
Stadler. “Every one of our cars coming off the line at any of our plants
worldwide is of the same high quality,” Stadler stressed.
During its visit to Ingolstadt, the Puebla
government delegation also toured Audi’s training and production
facilities, familiarizing themselves with the company’s special
qualification and quality requirements, experiencing what absolute
perfection “made by Audi” is about.