Audi Celebrates Q5 Production in San Jose Chiapa

After five years operating in Puebla, Audi announced that its San Jose de Chiapa plant produced over 800,000 Audi Q5 for the international market. From these units, 50,000 are the Sportback variant, which started production in Feb. 2021.

“Reaching to the 800,000 units of Audi Q5 was possible thanks to the talent and dedication of the over 5,200 collaborators of the San Jose Chiapa plant, who have been in charge of aligning to the highest group standards to produce a quality vehicle. With passion and perfection, we have succeeded in putting Mexican talent within the automotive industry globally,” said Tarek Mashhour, Executive President, Audi Mexico.

The Audi Q5 units were produced under sustainability and environmental responsibility standards. Audi reduced the water it used to manufacture the Q5 vehicle in San Jose Chiapa, Puebla by 50 percent and implemented the EcoDryScrubber paint overspray retrieval technology, which requires no water use. The brand’s inverse osmosis technology allowed Audi to reuse 200 million liters of water, as reported by MBN.

Audi Mexico announced that it will continue producing vehicles that line up with its path toward electromobility and will set its sights on manufacturing processes that guarantee the responsible use of natural resources. Among other sustainable strategies, the brand aims to produce vehicles without external discharges of water. “In Audi Mexico, we implement actions in environmental matters that aim to optimize water consumption and return benefits to the region, Mexico and the world in general,” said Mashhour.

Puebla is one of the most important states for the Mexican automotive industry. For each dollar of Mexican exports, US$0.30 comes from the automotive industry, said Olivia Salomon, Puebla’s Economy Minister. Puebla’s automotive industry sells US$12.0 billion annually thanks to its strategic location, as 41 percent of Mexico’s GDP is produced within a 200-km ratio of the state. 

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) is negotiating with international companies looking to invest in Puebla’s automotive sector, said Puebla’s Governor Miguel Barbosa in early April. “We are looking for two major investments for Puebla. If we succeed, one of them will be the largest investment that Puebla has ever received regarding the automotive industry. The other one is linked to lithium,” said Barbosa. 

Puebla’s state government wants to bring auto part production to Ciudad Modelo to manage the ongoing semiconductor shortage. However, these plans are on hold while the Federal Electricity Constitutional Reform is pending approval, as reported by MBN.