Audi to add dealers in China

BEIJING -- Audi plans to add more dealers in China to boost sales.

Audi expects to add 76 dealers to its existing dealership network in China by 2012. Currently it has 134 dealers in 86 Chinese cities.

Audi hopes to deliver up to 200,000 vehicles per year to customers in China by 2015, says Rupert Stadler, board chairman of Audi said recently at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of its partnerships with China FAW Group Co. in the northeast China city of Changchun.

Audi has also announced its plan to produce the Audi Q5 premier SUV in China. The new Audi A4 sedan produced in Volkswagen's plant in Chuangchun will be launched in China in the first half of 2009, says the company.

Supplier sources say Audi plans to start producing the new Audi A4 in the second half of this year and the Q5 in August 2009.

Audi will add an 81,610-squre-meter assembly shop at its existing plant in Changchun. With an investment of 1 billion yuan ($144.8 million), the shop will be put into use in the second half of 2009.

The new assembly shop will increase Audi's assembly capacity in China to 200,000 units. The shop has the capability to assemble various models, adds the company.

Audi remains the leader in China's luxury car segment. It sold more than 100,000 cars in China last year. Sales of the first five months of 2008 were 49,696 units, up 23.4 percent year-on-year.

Its competitor BMW AG currently has 70 dealers in China.