American Audiphiles can rest assured that their future four-ringed purchases will be Made in Germany and not somewhere in what is sometimes euphemistically called “North America.” Plans to build an Audi plant over here have been put on ice for an indefinite period. Worries about a tainted Aryan Audi race (in the motorsports connotation, of course) can be put aside. “We don’t need an American plant to reach our goal of 1.5m Audis a year by 2015,” said Audi Boss Rupert Stadler to Automobilwoche [sub]. “We could build a car in the U.S. in six months,” said Stadler, referring to the VW plant in Chattanooga. “Building a plant somewhere in the boonies would take three years.” And what’s the real reason?

The weak Euro. At the current rate, it’s simply more profitable to use plentiful capacities at home and ship the whole thing, than starting production in the U.S., while powertrains would have to be shipped from Germany anyway.

The weak Euro is a windfall for the export heavy German auto industry. Motormouth Ferdinand Dudenhöffer thinks the fx-effect will bring an additional €2b to the bottom line of the German auto makers this year alone. Ferdi is often wrong, but in this case, he might be somewhat on target. In any case: Should Europe bring its house in order while the dollar deteriorates (my long term bet), Audi can always build a few cars in Chattanooga. Chasing currency exchange rates with car plants is risky business.

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