Audi said it will not make a decision on whether to produce cars in the US before 2015 and will increase capacity at existing sites, such as Gyor in Hungary, until then, according the Reuters news agency.
For luxury carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi, the US is an important sales market and by producing vehicles locally they can absorb currency fluctuations against which they would otherwise need to protect themselves through expensive hedging strategies.
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Unlike its German rivals, Audi does not have its own factory in the US, but chief executive Rupert Stadler has not ruled out either a new facility in the future or tapping into parent company Volkswagen’s production capacity.
VW is opening a new factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, later this year, to build a new version of the Passat specially for North America. Popular models also sold in the US include the Jetta made in Mexico.
Last year Audi made 1.15m cars, an increase of 23.4% over 2009 with most of its models produced in the southern German cities of Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.
