Audi To Cease Production In Russia Later This Year -Vedomosti

Audi AG (NSU.XE) will stop assembling cars in Russia this year, business daily Vedomosti quotes a local representative of the German luxury auto maker as saying in Tuesday's edition.

Assembly of some models began last fall in the Kaluga region of western Russia, at a factory owned and run by Audi's parent, Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE). Initial work involved Audi A4 and A5 sedans and the Q5 sport-utility vehicle, with the A6 and Q7 added in January. But Audi officials had warned they wouldn't move to full assembly of vehicles and that the preliminary work was done only to fulfill employment obligations to the local government.

The Audi Russia representative couldn't say exactly when the assembly work will end, Vedomosti says, but an employee at the Kaluga plant said it will most likely be in three months.

The plant and all workers are now assembling other models, including Volkswagens and those of VW's Czech subsidiary, Skoda, the Audi representative said. Volkswagen recently began preparing production of a new sedan, the Polo, designed specifically for emerging markets, with plans for Kaluga to churn out 10,000 cars this year and 30,000 in 2011. The output of Audis from Kaluga hasn't been disclosed.

Newspaper website: www.vedomosti.ru

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