As the SUV market faces increasing demand from its Indian customer base, premium car manufacturer, Audi, whose parent company is Europe’s auto giant Volkswagen, is planning to add more shifts, in order to lessen the waiting time for its customers. This includes models like their Q7 SUV.
According to recent reports, Audi is also planning on additional work this weekend throughout the month at their two key German plants in a bid to increase their production capacity, as demand for SUVs go up.
Axel Strotbek, the Chief Financial Officer for the company, was quoted as saying that they need to add extra shifts in order to fulfill the demand. Several models have higher rates of delivery which doesn’t bode well for us. Volkswagen witnessed a surge in their first quarter innings fueled by the increased demand for their Audi models, which tripled to €2.91bn, a record high before taxes and interest could cut into it.
Audi also managed to sell 18% more SUVs and cars in this year’s first quarter, selling 3,12,600 units. According to Strotbek, they are also on track towards accomplishing their year target of delivering above 1.2mn vehicles. He also added the demand for SUVs has risen greatly with their Q7 model having the longest waiting period, while the Q5 enjoys the highest popularity.
This year, three of the biggest premium car manufacturers, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have set their highest ever sales target. This target has been set following the growing wealth of emerging markets like China, as well as the spending rebound in US. Volkswagen is also planning to increase its models and factories so as to guarantee profitable growth for their company over the coming years.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn was quoted as saying that they are now setting the foundation for experiencing commercial growth in all of their business fields and segments. VW first proved its might in 2010, and they plan on keeping their company on this same high track in the coming years.