Audi is reworking its factory roles rather than simply adding another model line. The key change is at Ingolstadt, where Q2 production is ending, Q3 output will be shared with Győr from mid-2026, and a new electric A2 e-tron is being prepared for the same site.
That matters because this is not just a product update. It is a manufacturing reset: Audi is trying to keep its core plants busy while shifting more of its line-up towards electric models without abandoning high-volume combustion cars too quickly.
Ingolstadt is losing one small SUV and gaining a bigger production role
Production of the Audi Q2 at Ingolstadt will end in April, closing a chapter that began in 2016. Audi says it has delivered 887,231 examples of the compact SUV, a respectable total for a model that became a familiar part of the plant’s output.
At the same time, the Audi A1 is also being phased out at Martorell in Spain. Since its 2010 launch, Audi has delivered 1,389,658 units. Both cars have been especially popular in Germany, the UK and Italy, which underlines the significance of their exit: Audi is stepping away from two established entry-level models while redirecting factory capacity towards more profitable and strategically important vehicles.
The Q3 plan shows how Audi intends to balance capacity across Europe
From mid-2026, production of the Audi Q3 will begin at Ingolstadt in collaboration with Audi Hungaria in Győr. Audi’s solution is not to duplicate the whole process at each site. Instead, body shells for the additional volume will be built in Hungary, then painted and assembled in Ingolstadt.
That is the most telling part of the announcement. Audi is using one of its strongest-selling SUV nameplates to knit two plants together more tightly, which suggests the firm sees flexibility as a competitive advantage rather than a contingency plan. It also gives Ingolstadt fresh work as Q2 production ends, while allowing Győr to remain central to Q3 output rather than being sidelined by a German reshuffle.
Rail logistics are doing the heavy lifting behind this shared-production model
Audi says the supply-chain teams in Ingolstadt and Győr have put the required logistics processes in place in less than a year, with the body shells transported by rail. That may sound procedural, but it is the practical foundation of the whole strategy.
Integrated production only works if transport is reliable, repeatable and cheap enough not to erode the business case. Rail helps on all three fronts. The broader point is that Audi is trying to make its international manufacturing network operate more like one joined-up system, not a collection of semi-independent factories.
The electric shift at Ingolstadt is gathering pace, but not replacing combustion overnight
Ingolstadt is not becoming an EV-only plant any time soon. Audi says the site will continue building two compact combustion-engined models, the A3 and the Q3, even as it accelerates electrification.
The factory has already added the Q6 e-tron in 2023 and the A6 e-tron in 2024. A further fully electric model line is due to start there in autumn 2026, and Audi has now identified that car as the A2 e-tron. The significance here is less the badge itself than the timing: Audi is layering EV production into its main plant while keeping conventional models in the mix, a more cautious approach than the all-in rhetoric some manufacturers were using only a few years ago.
Neckarsulm is being pushed in parallel, with performance EV plans already in view
Audi’s second German site at Neckarsulm is going through its own overhaul. The company says it has renewed the A5 and A6 model families there and is nearing the end of the largest ramp-up in the plant’s history. More trim levels and engine variants will follow, while the new RS 5 has already led the latest phase of expansion.
Beyond the core line-up, Böllinger Höfe is preparing for a new electric model previewed by the Concept C show car, with production due to begin in 2027. Audi is also positioning Neckarsulm as a competence centre for digitalisation and artificial intelligence, helped by its proximity to Heilbronn’s Innovation Park for Artificial Intelligence. The immediate industrial impact is not quantified here, so there is a limit to how far that claim can be assessed today, but the direction is clear enough: Neckarsulm is being asked to carry both model complexity and more advanced development work.
Audi’s production reset is really about flexibility, not simplification
Take the pieces together and Audi’s strategy becomes fairly clear. It is not simplifying its industrial footprint; if anything, it is making it more interdependent. Ingolstadt will build combustion models and EVs side by side, Győr will feed Q3 production across borders, and Neckarsulm will handle a broad mix of mainstream, RS and future electric projects.
That should give Audi more room to respond if demand for EVs, hybrids and combustion cars continues to vary by market. The trade-off, of course, is complexity. Shared production, cross-border logistics and overlapping powertrain strategies offer flexibility, but they also leave less margin for disruption if one part of the network stumbles.
What changes, and what to watch next
- Q2 production at Ingolstadt ends in April after 887,231 deliveries since 2016.
- A1 production is also winding down at Martorell, with 1,389,658 deliveries since 2010.
- Q3 production will be shared between Győr and Ingolstadt from mid-2026.
- Body shells for additional Q3 volume will be built in Győr, then painted and assembled in Ingolstadt.
- The A2 e-tron is due to enter production at Ingolstadt in autumn 2026.
- Neckarsulm is preparing another electric model at Böllinger Höfe for 2027.
