Audi Plans to Boost Hiring in Germany

Volkswagen AG's Audi unit plans to 2,000 specialists and 700 apprentices and giving permanent status to as many as 700 temporary employees in Germany.

Union leaders at Audi and VW said late last week they want binding job guarantees for workers at Audi's main German plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm before they would agree to a new Audi assembly plant in North America. Labor can veto key company decisions because it holds half the seats on the Audi and VW supervisory boards.

Audi has said it expects to decide by this summer where to build a new factory. The company has denied a report in Der Spiegel that Audi intends to begin producing the Q5 compact crossover vehicle at a new facility in Mexico in 2015.