RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, the German luxury carmaker Audi announced that it would restart the production of models in the country in mid-2022 at the manufacturing complex in conjunction with its parent, Volkswagen, in São José dos Pinhais (PR).
Audi had halted its production line in Paraná in 2020, with the end of the product cycle of the previous version of the Q3 SUV and after the end of the A3 sedan cycle in 2019.
The company did not inform the amount to be invested in the resumption of production, which still depends on agreements with the federal government, which should be completed next year.
The announcement came after Volkswagen announced the suspension of production at the São José dos Pinhais complex in mid-November due to a lack of electronic components.
The models on Audi’s line will be the new generation Q3 and Q3 Sportback, with imported engines.
The new generation Q3 was launched in Brazil early last year and became Audi’s best-selling model. In the first 11 months of 2021, Q3 sales totaled 2,027 units, according to data from the dealers association Fenabrave. Jeep Renegade, from Stellantis, is the leader in the same SUV category, with 69,600 sales.
Audi started producing in São José dos Pinhais in 1999. The first generation A3 model was assembled in the plant until 2006. In 2012, with the incentive program for the automotive sector Inovar Auto, Audi returned to make cars in the unit and injected 150 million euros into the plant that returned operation in 2015 until it was suspended again in 2019.