Audi A3 Cabriolet Production Starts in Hungary

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Production has started on the new Audi A3 Cabriolet in Hungary, officially having begun following celebrations by the Hungarian Prime Minister and Audi's Chairman of the Board of Management. The launch of production at the Hungarian plant, produced under Audi Hungaria Motor Kft., a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG, was also host to the world premiere of the new model.

Having invested more than five million euros into the production facilities at Györ, 130 km west of Budapest and having produced more than 300,000 vehicles since its inception in 1998, Audi Hungaria is one of the country's highest-revenue and greatest-exporting companies. The Audi A3 Cabriolet will join the TT Coupe and Roadster models presently produced there, upping capacity to 300 vehicles per day. Read on for further details.

Press Release

• Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and Audi Board Chairman Rupert Stadler drive the first Audi A3 Cabriolet from the production line.
• Proven effectiveness of joint production between Ingolstadt and Gy?r.
• Stadler: "Major contribution to strategic..."

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Audi Hungaria continues its success story with the Audi A3 Cabriolet: production of the new model was officially started today by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsány, and Audi's Chairman of the Board of Management, Rupert Stadler, at AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. in Gy?r. The production launch was also the world premiere for the new Audi A3 Cabriolet and was attended by a host of international guests.

"Car manufacturing in Hungary at Audi Hungaria has proved an outstanding success over the past years with production of the Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster. We are convinced that the Hungarian factory, with production of the Audi A3 Cabriolet, will make a major contribution to our strategic objective to build 1.5 million vehicles in 2015," announced Stadler. He added that Audi Hungaria also formed the core of the Group's engine manufacturing operations.

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The project, which was launched in 2006, required an innovative and highly flexible manufacturing operation. Modifications to the production equipment and infrastructure were required to manufacture the new model on the Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster assembly line. Investments totalling some five million euros (1.2 billion HUF) were made in the production equipment for the new convertible. The new model will be manufactured using the proven production alliance with the Ingolstadt plant (body shop, paint shop). The vehicle production operation in Györ (Audi TT Coupé, Audi TT Roadster and Audi A3 Cabriolet) has a maximum capacity of 300 vehicles per day.

Vehicle assembly started at Audi Hungaria in 1998 with the production of the Audi TT. Since then, more than 300,000 vehicles have been produced in Gy?r. The new generation of the Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster has been assembled at Audi Hungaria since 2006. This year, over 50,000 vehicles will leave the production line in Gy?r.

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AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft., a wholly owned subsidiary of AUDI AG based in Gy?r, is one of the principal engine suppliers to the Audi and Volkswagen Groups. It also assembles the Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster sports cars in Gy?r. In 2006, the company built 1,893,600 engines and 23,675 vehicles. For many years, Audi Hungaria has been one of the highest-revenue companies and one of the largest exporters in Hungary. Since 2006, Audi Hungaria has also been supplying numerous aluminium body parts for the Audi R8.