In this day and age, if a company doesn’t adapt to local market conditions it will most likely fail. This applies everywhere, from Canada to China- one needs to consider what local consumers want, the restrictions imposed by the infrastructure of the country, and the appropriate product planning to meet brand expectations.
As part of Audi’s expansion of their production network, they have finally begun production at their Parana site, in Brazil. The thirteenth in a line of production sites, the Parana plant is the first to be in South America. This is a big move on the part of Audi, allowing them to boost their waning sales in the South American region.
More important is that this new Parana plant is going to be producing A3 Sedans with the 1.4 TFSI Flex engine. South America is the perfect place to produce and market a flex-fuel motor, this being the first of it’s kind within Audi’s range. As South America has very high bio ethanol production, having an engine that can run on E85 or other ethanol-petrol blends is especially important.
Being the largest (but not the only) market in the world flex-fuel available, Brazil is a fantastic place to get the ball rolling. With more than 90% of newly registered cars in Brazil being on the flex-fuel setup, there’s a certain level of optimism that Audi is placing on these A3 Sedans. Customers will receive their first cars in November of this year.
