Audi Announces New Investment Plan and Confirms New A3 and R8 e-tron for 2012

You can say business is going good for Audi as the German premium automaker announced today a new plan to invest €13 billion, mainly in new products and technologies and in expanding its sites by 2016, while the company will also recruit some 1,200 specialists in 2012 in addition to 3,500 new employees it hired throughout 2011.

“We are aiming to achieve strong growth on an international scale and boost our lightweight construction and electric mobility areas of expertise in particular," said Thomas Sigi, Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources at AUDI AG. "That is why we will be hiring even more people and are planning to appoint a further 1,200 experts next year.”

Audi said that in order to cover its needs for skilled employees over the next few years, the brand and the employees’ elected representatives agreed to offer permanent employment contracts to trainees, students from vocational training academies and participants of the StEP program (Study and Experience in Practice) once they complete their courses.

The carmaker's planned investment of €13 billion (US$17 billion) from 2012 through 2016 is the biggest investment program in Audi's history.

“To maintain our profitable growth, we will step up investment spending on new products,” said Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Management for Finance and Organization at Audi AG. “The Audi Group plans to invest over € 2 billion annually in new products and technologies.”

Audi said that more than €10.5 billion (US$13.7 billion) would be spent on the development of new models and on technologies of the future such as electric or hybrid drive.

The company also confirmed three new production models for 2012, including the A8 hybrid that employs a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine, the next generation of the A3, the 2013 A6 allroad quattro as well as the pure-electric R8 e-tron that will be built in a small series.

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Supercharged Mazda MX-5 Super20

Becoming a member of the new MX-5 Spyder Strategy at Mazda's 2011 SEMA Show unit is a boost from the past, the MX-5 Super20 that results to Las Nevada with a new colour structure.

Introduced during last seasons SEMA extravaganza, the rejuvenated MX-5 Super20 ditches the unique model's dark colour style for an eye-popping Super Red Mica outside treatment counteract by a flat dark-colored complete for the hardtop, rim posture plug-ins, reduce features, lines and 16-inch Enkei RPF1 twin-spoke sporting tires printed with Toyo Proxes RA-1 245/45ZR16 tires.

Inside, the MX-5 Super20 features color-matched throw bar and dark-colored buckskin chairs with suede hold places and direct appears.

There are no operation changes to the unique MX-5 Super20, which is power by a improved 2.0-liter four-banger offering a Cosworth supercharger and various other increased such as the personalized fatigue and remapped ECU.

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IAA 2011: Skoda MissionL Concept Previews New Compact Sedan

Czech car manufacturer and member of the VW Group, Skoda, is on a…mission at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show to preview its upcoming compact sedan model with a close to production ready concept car named MissionL.

The production model will be positioned between the smaller Fabia and the larger Octavia challenging the likes of the Focus sedan in Europe, Russia, China, and India. Skoda said the as-of-yet unnamed compact sedan will launch in India by the end of 2011 and the rest of the world in the beginning of next year.

“We have taken a very pure approach to this design study – we have structured the surfaces simply, but impressively,” says Skoda Board of Directors Member for Technological Development Eckhard Scholz.

“The car has a strong, sporty look which conveys a beautiful simplicity and a youthful and contemporary appearance. Many people look for clean, minimalistic lines, and the MissionL concept offers all that,” Scholz added.

Albeit Skoda makes no mention in the teaser press release, given the positioning of the model as well as certain details of the design, it appears that the MissionL is the Czech variant of the VW Jetta.

Skoda has not yet released any information on the car's specifications but future buyers should expect the usual mix of diesel and gasoline engines found throughout the Volkswagen Group.

“This premiere kicks off ŠKODA's model offensive for the coming years," said Skoda Board Chairman, Winfried Vahland. “This new compact model, along with other new products to follow, will enable us to accomplish our goal of increasing global annual sales to 1.5 million vehicles by 2018. We are going to present a new car approximately every six months over the next few years.”

 

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