Audi, a unit of Volkswagen AG, VOW3.XE -0.63% Europe's largest car maker by sales, will continue to shift production geographically, but intends to keep capacity in Germany constant, in absolute terms, Mr. Stadler said. Last year about 55% of the total 815,000 Audis produced came off assembly lines in Germany. Less than five years earlier it had been about 75%.
"In the long term, capacity in Germany will make up about 35% to 40% of the total," Mr. Stadler said.
"We will see the occasional opportunity to expand capacity further," Mr. Stadler said, with the Asean region and South America being possibilities.
Audi is now building new plants in Mexico and China. The next stop could be in Brazil.
"We'll make a decision on a possible production site in Brazil in the second half," said Mr. Stadler. The country is an important growth market, and Audi rival BMW AG BMW.XE +0.16% set up assembly lines there last year.
"Industry growth is centered above all in Brazil, Russia, India and China—similar growth rates can't be expected in Europe anymore," said Christian Brunkhorst, auto expert at powerful German labor union IG Metall. "So we see the necessity of answering [regional] demand with [regional] output capacity," he said.
Audi itself is in the midst of the largest investment program in its history, Mr. Stadler said. At the end of 2011, the company said it would invest more than €3.5 billion per year from 2012 through 2014, or a total €11 billion in the period.
The company aims to be the top manufacturer in the premium sector by 2020, and has set a sales goal of 1.5 million units for 2015. The company could, however, reach that milestone this year, after selling 780,000 cars in the first half, thanks to strong growth in the U.S. and China. The second half also started well.
"July is developing positively, the situation is stable," Mr. Stadler said. "We are anything but disappointed with orders."
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