German automobile manufacturer Audi is looking to expand and develop its company even more by pumping money into research and development and a variety of other areas. The company is planning to spend around $29 billion dollars to increase production of their vehicles while they simultaneously develop new technology to be used in their cars. Audi is hoping that this massive investment will help them become the world’s leading luxury car manufacturer, hopefully surpassing BMW.
This large investment should theoretically propel Audi to all-new heights. Out of that massive $29 billion dollar investment, Audi is planning to spend around 70% of it to produce new vehicles over the coming years. Their new Q1 subcompact SUV is on top of the list for vehicles that are to be produced, and according to a statement from the Volkswagen Group (they own Audi), they expect to sell a record breaking 1.7 million vehicles in 2015.
Outside of producing new vehicles for 2015, Audi is also expected to put some of that large investment also towards developing electric vehicles, in addition to lightweight vehicle manufacturing. Audi is also looking to increase their overall lineup of vehicles with this new investment as they want to increase their lineup by ten vehicles over the next five years. The company plans to split up this investment in increments, spending around $5.8 billion per year.
Audi is doing all of this as they hope to close the gap between themselves and BMW. Audi currently sits at the number two spot for global luxury vehicle sales, right behind BMW. BMW has beaten out Audi over the pervious years, however that gap is closing each year. This investment is part of an even larger $104 billion dollar investment that Volkswagen is planning to spend to beat Toyota Motor Corp. in global sales. These large investments, if correctly spent, are always good for the consumer as we will probably see new and improved vehicles over the coming years.
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