Audi has announced plans to stop manufacturing internal combustion models by 2033. Audi has laid out a roadmap for its e-mobility strategy that entails rolling out electric vehicles from all its production facilities across the globe as well as opening manufacturing plans in new locations.
“We don’t want any standalone lighthouse projects on greenfield sites. Instead, we are investing in our existing plants so they end up being just as efficient and flexible as newly built production sites or greenfield plants,” says Audi Board Member for Production and Logistics Gerd Walker.
EV manufacturing currently limited to facilities in Brussels, Belgium and Böllinger Höfe, Germany.
Having already rolled out all-electric models such as the Q8 e-tron, Q4 e-tron and e-tron GT, Audi has confirmed that the next car to arrive will be the new Q6 e-tron SUV. The new electric SUV will be Audi’s first EV to be manufactured at the company’s facility in Ingolstadt with production to commence from 2023. Come 2024 Audi will also have its new plant in China , a joint venture with FAW, up and running with plans to locally manufacture models on the brand’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture. Additionally EV manufacturing will also commence at the company’s plants in Neckarsulm (Germany), San José Chiapa (Mexico), and Győr (Hungary) in the coming years.
Audi currently manufactures its EVs at its plants in Brussels (Belgium) and Böllinger Höfe (Germany).
The carmaker also announced plans to cut down on production costs by 50 per cent by 2033 with plans to push towards greater sustainability at all its plants by reducing their environmental impact in the areas of primary energy consumption, power plant emissions, CO2 equivalents, air pollutants, local water risk, and wastewater and waste volumes.
Carmaker plans to manufacture at least one EV at all its facilities across the globe by 2029.
Focusing on the Indian market, André Konsbruck, Vice President Sales Overseas, Audi AG recently told carandbike that the company hadn’t yet made a decision on localising its EVs for the market yet. He said that the company would need to make new investments to ready its facility in India to localise the e-tron models in the country, though the company required its model sales to reach a minimum threshold to justify the investment.
Konsbruck added that currently the company could still introduce models under the 2,500 unit import rule which provided it room to grow in the coming years. He however said that the company was studying the Indian market as well as analysing factors such as government incentives, demand for its models and other factors. The company could look to localise some of its EVs in India by 2028-2029.
