Ingolstadt, Germany – Audi has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its partnership with First Automobile Works (FAW) in Changchun, China, as it laid the cornerstone for a new assembly hall. The company also announced that it will produce the Audi Q5 locally at the Changchun plant.

“We hope to deliver up to 200,000 vehicles per year to customers in China by 2015,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG. “The new assembly hall is an important milestone toward achieving this goal.”

Since 1988, Audi has delivered more than 570,000 automobiles to Chinese customers and is currently the market leader in the local premium segment, selling more than 100,000 automobiles annually for the first time in 2007. Audi also plans to expand its dealership and service centre network to more than 200 locations by 2015. Currently, there are 125 Audi dealerships and nine service centres in 86 Chinese cities.

Audi’s presence in China began with a license agreement with FAW covering assembly of the Audi 100 from kits at the FAW plant in Changchun. Established in 1953, FAW is the oldest automotive group in the People’s Republic of China and now comprises more than 100 companies employing a total of over 100,000 people.