Questions with Audi Race Experience Sporting Director, Sepp Haider

Questions with Audi Race Experience Sporting Director, Sepp Haider
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sees Successful Start in 2012
VW to decide on North American Audi plant this summer

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST

Audi Race Experience Sporting Director, Sepp Haider, Audi R8 LMS ultra

You’re the new sporting director at Audi race experience. What are your responsibilities?

“Obviously, I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the Audi race experience. I’ve been working as an instructor for Audi’s large number of sporting customers ever since the program was incepted. I’m delighted that in 2012 Audi entrusted me to run the entire program. My task now is to offer our customers a perfect environment with a professional race team and to ensure an unforgettable experience for them. Our two new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and the Nurburgring give us optimum prerequisites for doing so.”

You’re offering the sportiest drivers of the brand as many as five opportunities for a racing experience at the Nurburgring. What has been the response to this offer?

Audi Race Experience Sporting Director, Sepp Haider, Audi R8 LMS ultra

“Even before publishing the calendar we’d received numerous inquiries for this year. That’s why only single places are left for VLN races number 4 and 7. The 24-hour race at the Nurburgring will again be the pinnacle of the season. Those who wish to drive with us should decide quickly.”

Who are the professional racers that will be assisting your participants at these racing events?

“This year we’re again working with Florian Gruber, Frank Schmickler and Marco Werner. Our program participants keep telling us that they’re thrilled by this concept and that they can feel the progress they’re making with respect to their own driving style. Conversely, our pros enjoy passing on their knowledge to Audi’s sporty drivers.”

- Audi Motorsport

Nurburgring 24 Hours LIVE COVERAGE

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Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sees Successful Start in 2012

Posted: 13 Feb 2012 01:13 PM PST

ONEIGHTURBO

In January 2012 Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles continued last year’s upward trend in deliveries. In the first month of the current business year, Europe’s leading manufacturer of light commercial vehicles delivered 39,500 units worldwide. This represents an increase for the Brand of 10.5 percent over January 2011 (35,700 vehicles).

“We have made a good start in the new year, and at the same time we have achieved a record – never before have we sold so many vehicles in January”, stressed Harald Schomburg, Member of the Brand Board of Management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles for Sales and Marketing. “Together with our importers and dealers, we are consistently following up the excellent results of the previous year.”

Brand sales in Western Europe were up by 6.7 percent in January 2012 to 20,500 vehicles (January 2011: 19,150). The European market with the highest sales volume for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in January 2012 was Germany, with an increase of 18.1 percent to 8,800 customer deliveries (January 2011: 7,500). In Eastern Europe sales were up by 49.9 percent, to 2,800 vehicles. The strongest region for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles outside Europe was South America, with an increase of 14.2 percent to 11,800 vehicle deliveries (compared with 10,400 in January 2011).

“A good start has been made. We will now consistently exploit all opportunities that offer in the current year to increase sales volumes”, Schomburg emphasized.

Volkswagen Group delivers just under six million vehicles to customers for first time in period from January to October

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VW to decide on North American Audi plant this summer

Posted: 13 Feb 2012 12:44 PM PST

ONEIGHTURBO

Volkswagen AG expects to choose a site for Audi’s North American plant by the summer, and locations in Mexico and the United States are in the running, according to Michael Macht, VW’s head of manufacturing.

After picking a site it will take about 2½ years to begin production, Macht said in an interview with Automotive News Europe.

VW has yet to determine which Audi model it will assemble there, he added. But the decision on where to locate the factory is closely linked with the company’s desire to bring another Volkswagen SUV, larger than the Tiguan, to the United States, he said.

“The two decisions are closely related, and we expect to make them by the summer,” Macht said.

The ability to source parts locally also is a factor, but at this point, VW has no “clear preference,” he added.

Opening a North American plant is crucial to Audi’s aggressive growth plans, which include reaching U.S. sales of 200,000 vehicles by 2018.

Last year Audi had a record 117,561 U.S. sales, up a 16 percent from 2010. It hopes to make similar gains again this year, but executives admit growth is being constrained by short supplies of key models, including the Q5 and Q7 SUVs.

Both the United States and Mexico have pluses and minuses as potential production locations for Audi, Macht said.

Mexico is exempt from import duties, meaning VW can avoid the 10 percent duty levied on cars built in the United States and shipped to Europe. Trade among Mexico, Europe and the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) is duty-free, he said.

Macht: No clear preference yet on new N.A. plant.

Also, VW already has a plant in Puebla, Mexico, where it builds the Beetle and Jetta. In 2013, it will open an engine plant in Silao, Mexico, which will produce 300,000 engines a year for North America.

Still, Mexico’s central highlands, which are best suited for auto manufacturing, are crowded with factories and suppliers in five or six locations, competing for qualified labor. In the last year, Japanese manufacturers have chosen Mexico for three car factories in the region, Macht said.

At the same time, the “Made in U.S.A.” statement is an important one for VW, and there is still room to add capacity at VW’s Chattanooga, Tenn., plant that opened in May, Macht said.

He added: “Another advantage is the strong existing supplier structure” in the United States.

- AutoNews