Audi is overhauling its manufacturing operations across multiple European sites, phasing out two established models while expanding electric vehicle capacity and deepening cross-plant integration.
At its Ingolstadt headquarters in Germany, the carmaker will begin producing the Q3 model from mid-2026 and is preparing facilities for the A2 e-tron, a forthcoming electric model.
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The changes are part of a broader effort to standardise processes across the group’s plant network and increase EV output.
The restructuring involves two model withdrawals.
Q2 model production at Ingolstadt is ending this month after 887,231 units were built over a nine-year run beginning in 2016.
Separately, the A1 is being discontinued at Audi’s Martorell facility in Spain, where 1.38 million cars have rolled off the line since 2010.
According to the company, both models have performed strongly in Germany, the UK and Italy.
The addition of Q3 production at Ingolstadt reflects tighter operational ties with Audi’s Győr plant in Hungary.
Audi plant manager Siegfried Schmidtner said: “The teams at the Ingolstadt plant have passionately driven the success of the Audi Q2. Working closely with Győr, we are turning a new page and will begin the integrated production of the Audi Q3 in mid-2026.”
Rail-based logistics for transporting car bodies between the two sites were established within a year.
Ingolstadt will continue building the A3 and combustion-engine Q3 variants alongside the expanded electric capacity, which follows the market launches of the Q6 e-tron in 2023 and the A6 e-tron in 2024.
A further fully electric model line is scheduled to enter production in autumn 2026.
At the Neckarsulm facility in Germany, Audi is ramping up output of revised A5 and A6 model families and introducing new variants, with the RS 5 having launched earlier this year.
The company is also positioning Neckarsulm as a centre for digitalisation and AI development, drawing on its proximity to the Heilbronn Innovation Park for Artificial Intelligence, where it is developing AI-based applications.
The Böllinger Höfe site, also in Germany, is being prepared for a new fully electric sports model due to enter production in 2027.
Audi said maintaining a parallel mix of combustion, hybrid and electric production is central to building a manufacturing network capable of adapting to shifting market conditions.
