Audi may build new SUV in China

Audi will unveil the Q5 at the Beijing auto show April 19. The carmaker chose Beijing for the car’s world debut because it sees China as a key growth market.
    
Last year, China overtook the United Kingdom as Audi’s biggest market outside Germany. Audi’s Chinese sales grew 24.8 percent to 101,996 units while its United Kingdom sales increased 17.1 percent to 100,712.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said at last month’s Geneva auto show that he believes the carmaker could double its Chinese sales to 200,000 units in the coming years.
    
Q5 production started at Audi’s factory in Ingolstadt, Germany, in December ahead of the car’s launch in Europe starting in the summer. The Q5 will launch in the United States early next year and in China by the end of next year.

Based on the A4 sedan, the Q5 will rival BMW’s X3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK-class.
    
Audi will not say whether China will be added as a production location for the Q5.
    
"Q5 production in China is under consideration, but no decision has been taken yet," an Audi spokeswoman said.
    
But Chinese suppliers and the Chinese media say that the car will be built in FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun. Currently, the factory builds the Audi A4 and A6 and five VW models.

A supplier source told Automotive News Europe that Audi will start Q5 production in Changchun in August 2009.