Audi and strategic partner FAW are going one step further in Changchun.
Audi is no stranger to building cars in Changchun. The e-tron has been made there since 2019 and the company has been pouring even more money into their partner FAW recently. Audi FAW NEV company is the first joint company in China in which Audi holds a majority stake.
Their new facility in Changchun is coming together nicely with a Test Centre being opened in September. It’s one of the most advanced Audi testing centres in the world and allows for up to 70 test vehicles to be operated simultaneously.
By the end of the year, the company aims to have finished construction with around 1,000 robots, an automated high-bay warehouse, heavy-duty machine presses and camera-based monitoring systems being installed. Next year, personnel will move into the new facilities and series production can commence on Premium Platform Electric vehicles by the end of 2024.
This new plant is extremely significant for Audi, being even larger than their Neckarsulm factory at 154 hectares. It will have the capacity to produce 150,000 fully electric Audi models on the PPE platform for the Chinese market.
The site will include a press shop, a body shop, a paint job, assembly lines and even battery assembly facilities. Many of the suppliers for the plant are located within 30 kilometers of the Changchun Audi-FAW NEV plant. 3,000 employees are expected to be hired from across the globe to work here. Audi expects this expansion to help them move a lot more cars in China so they’re pouring a lot into it.
To keep with the brand’s “Mission:Zero” global environmental programme, Audi will deploy energy-efficient and sustainable technologies throughout the production areas. The plant will also use 100% green energy with over 350,000 square meters of rooftop solar panels being deployed. There will also be a water management system to keep wastewater recycled.
