A Reuters report over the weekend further confirms that Audi's building a new, entry-level car based on the European VW Polo. Chief executive Rupert Stadler discussed the project, which would sell in range of 100,000 units per year, as part of a companywide plan to become more profitable than its competitors, while boosting sales to 1.5 million per year from 900,000 currently. Stadler says the company could make an eight percent return on sales from the premium small car, which would likely be built in Brussels, bucking traditionally small margins on subcompacts. He also says a US plant is wholly unnecessary. Pshaw.
Audi returns to beat rivals by 2015 -CEO in paper [Reuters via The German Car Blog]
Related:
Spec'ing the Audi Small Hatch: More, Better; Volkswagen Launches Polo GTI Cup [internal]