September 17, 2013 - 11:00 am ET
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -- Volkswagen Group plans to invest 1.2 billion reais ($529 million) in Brazil to begin local assembly of the VW Golf and restart local production by Audi, a spokesman for the state of Parana said.
Audi will invest 50 million reais to expand facilities at VW's factory in Sao Jose dos Pinhais, the spokesman said. Audi expects to start production in Brazil in 2015 and build 26,000 units of the A3 compact annually within three years. The plant will also produce the Q3 compact SUV.
Next week, VW will announce an investment of 700 million reais to prepare for the production of its new Golf model at the factory, according to the spokesman.
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was meeting President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia today as VW Group's premium brand makes plans for an overseas expansion to catch up with luxury-market leader BMW.
Audi's move follows steps by the Brazilian government to raise taxes on imported vehicles while offering tax breaks for carmakers that increase domestic investments.
BMW said in October that it would spend 200 million euros ($267 million) on a factory in Brazil's southern state of Santa Catarina and start production there in late 2014, with the goal of making about 30,000 vehicles per year in the country.
Rising wages, especially for scarce, highly skilled professionals, have made Brazil a bright spot in the global market for luxury goods. But both Honda Motor and General Motors Co. have said luxury car sales in Brazil are still too slim to consider making it a base for producing their upmarket offerings.
Brazil is not uncharted territory for Audi. It first entered the market in 1999, when it started building the A3 at the Parana plant jointly developed with VW. But Audi stopped its assembly line at the plant in 2006.
To meet its goal of replacing BMW as the world's best-selling premium carmaker by the end of the decade, Audi is now expanding globally. The brand broke ground for a new plant in Mexico in May and will open one a factory in Foshan, China, later this year.
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