Gasgoo.com (Shanghai November 29) - FAW Volkswagen's new Foshan branch company will begin manufacturing Audi vehicles as well as VW ones, auto.sina.com.cn reported today. The company, which will lead the joint venture's South China sales operations, is set to open its doors for business later this week. The Foshan factory will begin preliminary production at that time. The opening ceremony will reportedly be attended by members of the Guangdong provincial government and Foshan municipal government, as well as executives from VW's German headquarters, FAW Group and FAW-VW.

Construction work for the new Foshan production site is divided into two stages. In the first phase, the factory will take up 455,000 square meters and have a preliminary production capacity of 300,000 units. The Foshan site will adhere to the highest German standards, with its own stamping, welding, painting, assembly facilities. It is scheduled to be finished by August 2013.

The Foshan production site will be the first in China to use the MQB platform, which will be used for next generation VW and Audi models, including the new Audi A3 compact. It is natural that Foshan would be chosen as home to the production site, as it is Guangdong's most complete manufacturing site. The province also has the country's highest number of privately owned automobiles.