BUDAPEST, July 15 (Reuters) - German carmaker Audi will launch a third shift at its car plant in Hungary from mid-August to meet rising demand for its premium models, the company said on Tuesday.
Audi's plant in the western Hungarian town of Gyor, 120 kms (75 miles) from Budapest, where it manufactures the TT Coupe and Roadster sports cars as well as the A3 Limousine and Cabriolet, has an annual capacity of 160,000 vehicles.
"We are preparing for serial production of the new Audi TT Coupe with full steam. Introduction of the third shift is inevitable," car production chief Gerd Walker said in the statement.
Last year the company, one of Hungary's top revenue earners and exporters, rolled out 42,851 cars and 1.93 million engines, most of which were exported.
The company invested over 900 million euros ($1.23 billion)into expanding its Hungarian plant to cover the entire spectrum of production in a project that was completed last year.
The European Commission said last week it had started an in-depth probe into state aid granted to Audi in Hungary to see whether it met EU rules.
The EU executive said Hungary planned to grant 133.3 million euros of state aid to Audi related to its investment project. ($1 = 0.7331 Euros) (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs, editing by Louise Heavens)