scottkusf

Long time Audi owner, current TT from Germany. Anyone have any concerns with Mexico build quality of the new Q5? How does Audi think they can maintain their quality with this new plant?

Thanks for the comments.

Tomb01

Well, if you look at the youtube videos of the Mexico plant, much of the actual assembly is robotic, so not so much exposure to quality issues....

mtberman

I share your concerns. Between the price increases over the last 3 years and the Mexico production shift, the Q5 will be hugely profitable. Let's hope Audi has taken steps to ensure they are perfect.

I've owned a lot of new cars, 3 of which were problematic/defective. One was deemed "unfixable" and bought back by the manufacturer. All 3 of these cars were first-year-of-production models. As a result, I'm now one of those guys who avoids buying a vehicle until it's been in production for a while.

scottkusf

Interesting, I didn't think to look up videos of the plant. It does quell concerns, and I guess I forgot that most vehicles are produced by robots anyways. We shall see how quality holds up.

Greystoke

Would it matter if those are Mexican built robots...?

Grey

AT1967

Let me introduce you to Magna
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_International
Very few people know the name or the existence of this company of 155,000 employees working all around the world and providing parts for all car "manufacturers".
Car assembly is a big puzzle game with parts built from all other the world and assembled somewhere else. Designed in Germany and manufactured and built somewhere else. The important thing is to establish a very high standard of quality control, Apple was arguably able to make it with a external partners (ok electronics is not car manufacturing...). France is a high place for quality product in fashion and luxury but their cars are not a model of quality (I am french btw). Only time will tell how fast they were to establish the bar in quality in their factory in Mexico but I am not worried that they already achieved it or they will.

dhc8guru

I had the same concern but there is a youtube video about the quality between German VW's and Mexico VW's. They give a bunch of hard analysis between identical vehicles built between the two plants. Germany had a significant higher number of build defects.

DennisMitchell

We will see. 75% of the parts of the new Q5 are made in Mexico. I hope for Audi's sake they will produce a vehicle of even higher quality than the European built vehicles.

Cadx6

I was told by someone I trust that before the plant opened, all the initial assembly line employees from Mexico were sent to Germany to work on the line there and be trained by existing Audi craftsmen.

plat27265

I will not be concerned about the build quality. Audi/VW will ensure that the same level of craftsmanship is available in their Mexico plant as well as other overseas locations. I am also not that too concerned about car parts sourced from Mexican companies. European sourced car parts are not necessarily reliable either. Take for example the prematurely failing timing chain tensioners, water pumps, and fuel pumps installed in a lot of Audi/VW vehicles.

My reservation with Mexican-made or even US built European vehicles is that the allure of buying a BMW or VW/Audi has now lessened quite a bit because it is no longer built there. Buyers are not exactly getting a good discount for buying Mexican built Audis/VW's as well. All those savings translate to increased profits for the manufacturer.