Audi is advertising 500 new jobs for the production of the new Audi Q6 e-tron at its main plant in Ingolstadt. At the same time, several further training programmes for employees around electromobility are also underway – but also extensive job cuts within the company.
With the Q6 e-tron electric series based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), the headquarters in Ingolstadt will also become the first German Audi site with its own battery assembly – this was already agreed between the company and the works council in 2018. There, the supplied battery cells will be assembled into ready-to-install battery packs.
“With 500 additional jobs for the production of our new all-electric Q6 e-tron, we are showing that our path to electromobility is a job engine. Electrification ensures high employment volumes, new jobs and thus more security at the German sites,” says Audi Board Member for Human Resources Xavier Ros. In the application process, Audi is therefore also explicitly considering temporary employees already working in Ingolstadt.
In addition to increasing the number of jobs, Audi says it is continuing to push ahead with the qualification of its employees in future fields. Over the past 18 months, Audi has qualified around 8,300 employees from Production, Technical Development and Sales in Ingolstadt for the launch of the Q6 e-tron. At Audi Hungaria in Győr, where the e-drive of the Q6 e-tron is manufactured, around 2,000 employees have also been trained in electrification since 2022.
Production start of the Q6 e-tron still unknown
However, the Ingolstadt-based company does not mention two points in the current announcement about the 500 jobs that have been advertised. At the end of 2019, under the then CEO Bram Schot, an austerity programme including job cuts was decided; by 2025, around 9,500 jobs will be lost at the two German sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.
Audi also does not comment on the timing of the start of production for the new Q6 e-tron in Ingolstadt in the current announcement. The model was planned for 2023 but, as reported, will probably not be launched until 2024 due to development delays at Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad, just like the electric Porsche Macan.
From 2026 onwards, Audi only wants to bring new models onto the market that are powered purely by electricity. From 2029, all of the brand’s production sites worldwide are to manufacture at least one fully electric vehicle. The Audi main plant in Ingolstadt is to produce only electric cars from 2028. Schot’s successor Markus Duesmann had decided that the last new combustion engine Audi would arrive in 2026 and that only electric Audis would be built after its end of production in 2033. A few days ago, Audi announced another change in management: Duesmann has to go, he will be succeeded by Gernot Döllner on 1 September 2023.
Meanwhile, there is news about Audi’s planned production facility for electric cars in North America. According to insiders, Audi is to make an announcement on 18 July at its Mexican plant in Puebla about expansion plans for electric cars, and top management from Germany is also expected to arrive, according to the Reuters report. However, the manufacturer denied: “No announcement is planned and we cannot confirm any business trips or announcements,” a spokesperson said. In San Jose Chiapa in the state of Puebla, so far only the Audi Q5 is built for the world markets, including the plug-in hybrid. However, the plant is considered to be poorly utilised, and another (electric) model series could improve that.
Until now, Audi had its sights set on the USA for electric car production in North America. As reported, Audi will not use the plant for Volkswagen’s US electric car brand Scout in the US state of South Carolina, which was announced in March. There had previously been speculation that Audi electric cars might also come off the production line at the new plant.
With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.
audi-mediacenter.com (announcement), spiegel.de (personnel cuts), reuters.com (Mexico)
Keyword: Audi advertises 500 jobs for Q6 production