Audi Slows Production

With automakers facing the darkest days in recent memory, it’s become commonplace to have yet another press release come down the wire outlining plans for plant slow-downs, shift closures, and production halts. None of the Big 3 have been spared from resorting to these ominous tactic to staunch the bleeding, but now we’ve received news that luxury automaker Audi will be stemming the flow of Ingoldstadt’s finest from their factory doors for a period of no less than 6 days. Having sold over a million vehicles in 2008, Audi’s sales are strong, but high labour costs and the rising costs of materials have driven profits down. Also, considering the agreement between Audi and it’s labour force prohibits the German marquee from laying off employees as a result of declining sales until 2011, Audi may find themselves stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place in profits do not increase.

But perhaps most interestingly, and perhaps sinister is the news of Audi’s production slowdown on the cusp of a serious Porsche model launch. With the much publicized internal squabbling of Porsche and VW surrounding day to day operations, one can’t help but wonder if Audi’s production slowdown might have as much to do with the launch of Porsche’s Panamera sedan as it does with slowing profits. A competitor of both Audi’s S6 and S8 models, the Panamera extends Porsche’s competition with Audi; a competition that already includes the fabled 911, and Porsche’s cash cow Cayenne.