Audi’s Mexico Plant to Open in Mid-2016

Volkswagen AG's Audi unit expects to supply as many as 150,000 next-generation Q5 crossover vehicles to markets worldwide from the new factory it is building in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico.

The €900 million ($1.2 billion) facility, scheduled to open three years from now, will include press, body and paint shops in addition to assembly lines. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler tells Bloomberg News the plant eventually could double its capacity and add a second model such as the company's larger Q6 crossover.

Audi currently makes the Q5 in Ingolstadt, Germany, along with the A4 sedan and A5 coupe. The company also will make the Q5 and other vehicles in China at a factory that will open in Foshan at the end of the year with annual capacity of 150,000 units.

U.S. demand for Audi crossovers has jumped more than 50% this year to account for about 40% of total volume. The company predicts one-third of its global sales will be crossovers by the end of the decade.

Audi, whose U.S. sales jumped nearly 19% to 117,600 vehicles last year, aims to reach annual volume of 200,000 units in the region by 2018.