Audi planning to create 1,200 new jobs in 2011

Audi has announced that the brand will be hiring about 1,200 skilled employees in 2011. In what is set to become the biggest investment program in the history of Audi, the four rings brand is planning to invest until 2015 around €11.6 billion. A big part of the total amount, more than € 5 billion, will be invested in the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites, in Germany.

“Innovation requires people,” said Thomas Sigi, Member of the AUDI AG Board of Management for Human Resources. “For this reason, we want to hire around 1,200 experts in 2011 who will primarily bolster our electromobility and lightweight construction fields of competence, as well as the implementation of our growth strategy.”

Between 2011 and 2015, Audi will be making the biggest investment program in the company’s history, with a €11.6 billion being invested in fixed assets. According to Axel Strotbek, Board Member for Finance and Organization of AUDI AG, “With this investment, we are laying the foundation for sustained, profitable growth, and supporting our claim to leadership in the premium car segment.”

The majority of this investment, more than € 9.5 billion, will be used in the development of new products and technologies of the future such as electric and hybrid drive systems. The production of the first electric sports car from Audi, the Audi R8 e-tron, is included in this pan of investment. The brand hopes that the electric car will start being sold in late 2012.

Several models are already scheduled for introduction in 2011. These include the new Audi A6 and the Audi Q5 Hybrid, the first full hybrid from the carmaker. With the launch of the new Audi Q3, which is being produced in Martorell, Spain, the brand will be filling the midsize premium SUV segment for the first time.

Another important part of the investment will go the company’s German sites. Audi will be investing more than € 5 billion in the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites. “In addition to our foreign sites, the German sites will also profit greatly from the Audi brand’s good worldwide prospects for growth, especially in China,” Strotbek said.