Audi wants to boost the output of the A8 flagship sedan by 57 percent

Audi AG expects that the stock-market slump will not have an impact on the luxury auto industry and so it has decided to hire more staff to boost production. Audi intends to boost the capacity for the 69,600 euro A8 flagship sedan by 57%. Albrecht Reimold, who heads Audi’s factory in Neckarsulm, Germany, said that the plant, which currently has 14,000 employees, is “extremely busy.” The company expects that this uptrend will “continue for some time, certainly through next year."

Reimold said that Audi's second-biggest plant hired 500 more workers this year and has been running extra shifts, acording to Autonews. This plant rolls out the 111,100 euro R8 sports car and the 48,900 euro A7 four-door coupe. He anticipates that output will increase by 21% to a high of 260,000 vehicles in 2011.

The increase in staffing and shifts are part of the expansion at the Volkswagen AG unit, which is boosting capacity in Spain and raising production in China. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index has fallen by 23% from its peak last February but that hasn’t deterred Audi, BMW AG and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz from placing additional shifts, cutting breaks and constructing new plants. In an Aug. 17 interview, Reimold said that the company is aware of the possibility that conditions may worsen but it is trusting its predictions that “things will stay good.”[via : 4wheelsnews]