Currently reading: Audi announces £18.4bn investment and range expansion
Planned investment of £18.4bn, between 2014 and 2018, to facilitate the development of new models and technologies

Audi has revealed that it intends to spend almost £18.4bn on the development of new models, technologies and infrastructure.

The investment, which will be take place between 2014 and 2018, is reputedly the largest in the company's history.

Over 70 per cent of the funds will go into new models, including the third-generation Audi TT which is due on sale in 2014. As well as the continued development of hybrid, electric and alternatively fuelled cars, money will also be spent on research into next-gen petrol and diesel engines.

These new models and technologies are part of an overall plan to bolster the manufacturer's sales. Audi is currently looking to expand its current range from 49 models to 60 by 2020, with new variants like the Audi Q1.

Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of management at Audi, commented: “We had set the goal of 1.5 million deliveries per year by 2015, but we already achieved that quite comfortably in 2013.

"We are now decisively steering towards our next milestone of two million deliveries. This is why we are keeping our foot on the gas regarding investments and why we are hiring new employees in 2014.”

New opportunities will include positions at Audi's recently constructed plant in Mexico, which is set to produce the Q5 in 2016. Audi further intends to recommence production in Brazil, in 2015, while existing sites in Hungary will continue to receive investment. A new plant in China, the second Audi facility in the country, will also begin production soon.

The company's Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt sites will additionally receive considerable investment, improving the facilities currently available to the manufacturer.

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