AUDI'S R150 BILLION INVESTMENT PUSHES AHEAD

Audi, having targeted the year 2016 as the one in which it unsettles BMW as the world’s biggest maker of premium cars, changed its mind and shifted the target to 2020. And in order to do this effectively it will invest €13 billion (about R150 billion today) in itself.

It was almost exactly a year ago when Audi first made the announcement of the investment and said it would spend it over four years, starting in 2012. So far the plan is going ahead. Over 1200 new people were hired at Audi this year in order to bolster these plans.

The main sponge to suck on the money will be the two German factories in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, both of which will take €8 billion (R90 billion). Development of new products is of the utmost importance, and so are new technologies, engines and efficiencies. The electrification of the car is also on the cards, as well as renewable fuel strategies.

All these actions are meant to take Audi to the top of the premium ladder by 2020, thereby surpassing BMW. By then Ingolstadt plans to be selling over 2 million cars per year. BMW on the other hand, is targeting that same sales figure for 2016 already…