Audi considers first US plant to remain in race for EV tax credits
Audi is considering building a factory to make electric vehicles in the US. Oliver Hoffmann, responsible for Technical Development, said Audi would make a decision early next year. The move naturally comes amid new funding regulations for electric vehicles.
Speaking to Automotive News, Hoffmann said: “We are currently looking left and right, with our VW Group in the background as a strong partner, at how we can respond to the new opportunities in the US.” The new rules for electric cars in the USA “will have a huge impact on our strategy here”, added the Board Member for Development.
US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in August this year. This put the tax credit reform for electric vehicles in the USA into immediate effect. For BEV and PHEV to remain eligible for tax credits, the final assembly must happen in North America.
The only EV currently qualified in the Volkswagen Group is the VW ID.4, built at the US plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Audi ships all BEVs from Europe to America. The e-tron quattro is made in Brussels, the e-tron GT in Neckarsulm and the Q4 e-tron in Zwickau. Next year, production of the Q6 e-tron is scheduled to start in Ingolstadt. Audi does have a plant on the American continent and builds the Q5, based on the MLB evo combustion engine platform, in San José Chiapa, Mexico.
According to the report in Automotive News, however, the current deliberations are about a new building, not a conversion of the Mexican plant. “We have a very strong history in the USA, but this is a great opportunity to grow further in the country with our premium electric models,” Hoffmann the paper quotes Hoffmann.
Another option is sharing the Chattanooga plant with VW, given that Hoffmann mentioned the Group as a “strong partner”. He added, “With our cross-platform strategies, this is a great opportunity for us.” Hoffmann here refers to the MEB platform, which the ID.4 and Audi’s entry-level electric model Q4 e-Tron share. However, the more lucratively priced e-Tron models and sports car e-Tron GT would not offer this opportunity since they share the PPW platform developed jointly with Porsche.
“We will take a close look at where exactly we build our cars in the future,” said Hoffmann, thus leaving much room to manoeuvre when choosing a region or state for an Audi electric vehicles plant in the United States. Hoffman suggested that a final decision on expanding EV production to North America would come in early 2023.
Additional reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.
autonews.com (Paywall, in German) via carscoops.com
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