In light of its diesel scandal, Volkswagen Group chose to decrease spending on factories, equipment, and new models by around $1 billion for next year. But according to a new report, Audi won’t make the same cutbacks.
Speaking with unnamed sources familiar with the matter, The Detroit News reports that the luxury carmaker will keep spending in line with this year’s levels. Audi plans to roll out $3.62 billion in investments for 2016.
Of course, it’s important to note that Audi is a very high earning brand for the VW Group. Together with Porsche, it generated around two-thirds of the Group’s operating profit for the first half of this year. Also, Audi vowed last year to cut spending by $2.5 billion annually in the areas of purchasing, manufacturing, and development. Those cuts were said to make room for costs related to electric vehicles and autonomous car technologies.
Audi has another big year ahead, as it plans to expand its Q lineup of SUVs. The automaker will launch the small Q2 crossover next year as well as a successor to the Q5. It also has plans for a Q8 large crossover in the near future. By 2018, Audi will bring out an all-electric crossover that should deliver over 310 miles of range.
All in all, Audi says it will expand its lineup to 60 different vehicles by the time 2020 rolls around. Meanwhile, Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Mueller wants to cut back on the number of vehicles and variants the Group offers as a whole.
One area where Audi will make cuts is the construction of a new wind tunnel. Audi has delayed this project for one year to take a closer look at the cost.
Source: The Detroit News, Bloomberg
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