Audi to invest €1 bn in Mexico for EV production
Audi has begun planning the infrastructure and equipment for manufacturing an e-tron model in Mexico, Tarek Maor, the CEO at the company’s local subsidiary, said during a conference on 12 June. The company owns a factory in San José Chiapa, Puebla, about 70 km from Volkswagen’s factory in Sanctorum in the same state. It will invest over €1 billion in the Puebla, state governor Sergio Salomón Céspedes Peregrina announced later during the conference.
The €1 billion investment in the Audi San José Chiapa plant will generate more than 500 new jobs, adding to the 5,351 existing positions. The 460-hectare production facility, operational since 2016, currently builds the Audi Q5 mid-size SUV. Previous reports suggest the electric model allocated to this plant will be the next-gen Audi Q8 e-tron.
Originally introduced as the Audi e-tron, the Audi Q8 e-tron, is currently made in Brussels, Belgium. In November 2021, former Audi CEO Markus Duesmann had announced that the next-gen model would be made at the same location, but it seems there’s a new plan now.
Given the Audi Q8 e-tron’s large size, it has the potential to become immensely popular in the US if priced attractively, and, of course, designed and engineered keeping in mind the requirements of American customers. Moreover, the US government offers up to $7,500 in tax credit on EVs assembled in North America, provided they meet other requirements of the incentive policy.
Audi or Mexican officials didn’t disclose the start of production (SOP) timeline of the San José Chiapa plant’s first EV during yesterday’s conference. However, earlier this year, Gerd Walker, Audi’s Board of Management Member for Production, had said that the company “will build the Q8 e-tron successor in Mexico from 2027.” A formal announcement of the model name and the SOP timeline should follow later.
Priced from $74,400 in the US and €79,790 in Germany, the Audi Q8 e-tron competes with the Tesla Model X, Mercedes EQE SUV, BMW iX, and the Polestar 3.
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