Audi announces 900-million-eur

Audi announces 900-million-euro plant expansion in Hungary

BUDAPEST, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- German car manufacturer Audi announced on Thursday a 900-million-euro (about 1,199 million U.S. dollars) investment in the extension of its existing plant in the city of Gyor in northwestern Hungary.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Budapest on Thursday with Prime Minister Viktor Orban Audi CEO Rupert Stadler called the investment a "decisive milestone" North Face in the company's history in Hungary and said that the expansion marks a "new era" for Hungary as an automotive manufacturing location. Audi has had a manufacturing presence in Hungary since 1993.

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"We are on our way to becoming the world's leading premium car maker factory, and need further capacity to engine our growth. We will establish this capacity at our Hungarian location," Stadler said.

From 2013, Audi plans to roll out 125,000 premium models a year for the global market from its production line in Gyor including Audi TT Coupe, Roadster, A3 Cabriolet and the new version of the A3 model.

Currently, the Gyor factory builds engines and assembles parts transported by train from Ingolstadt in Germany. The extension will give the plant the capacity to accommodate the entire production process.

Audi envisages that the Porsche Design Watch expansion of production will provide approximately Porsche Design Watch 1,800 new jobs. Orban said that once the new facility is operational, the plant could contribute approximately 2 percent to Hungarian GDP.

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"For me and the Hungarian government, when it comes to an investment it is not only the investment value and its contribution to GDP, but over and above everything the number of new jobs is the most important," Orban said.

"We have to correct a lot of problems but soon Hungary will be the most competitive investment opportunity in Central Europe. Our agreement with Audi is an important step," Orban added.