In BUDAPEST story headlined "UPDATE 2-Audi plans 60,000 of new A3 Sportbacks a year", please read headline as "Audi plans 75,000 of new A3 Sportbacks a year," and in first paragraph ... 75,000 units ...instead of... 60,000 units.
Please read in paragraph three ... some 150,000 A3s, of which 50 percent ...instead of... some 100,000 A3s, of which 60 percent (company corrects figures).
Please delete in fourth paragraph ...The annual output plan is some 100,000 A3s, of which 50 percent would be sportbacks," Winterkorn said (deletes after company corrects figures).
Please change source in first and third paragraphs to a company spokesman and in fourth paragraph to Chairman Martin Winterkorn.
A corrected repetition follows.
(Releads, adds details)
BUDAPEST, June 24 (Reuters) - Audi plans to make 75,000 units a year of its newly launched A3 Sportback, a direct rival to BMW's new 1-series and a key addition to Audi's small car offering, a spokesman for the German carmaker said on Thursday.
The A3 shares the chassis with the Volkswagen-Audi group's most popular car, the Golf, but the new Sportback is slightly longer than previous A3, and its strongest engine is 250 horsepower (184 kWh). It will also offer a permanent four-wheel drive option.
Audi plans an annual global output of some 150,000 A3s, of which 50 percent will be the new A3 Sportback model, the spokesman said.
"The plan is of course flexible, depending on demand," Chairman Martin Winterkorn told Reuters.
Winterkorn said production of A3 Sportback began two weeks ago, but gave no financial details.
BMW will launch the 1-series in September luxury compact car in a bid to capture younger buyers with an eye for prestigious brands and money to spend. BMW expects to sell around 100,000 of the 1-series next year.
COMMITTED TO HUNGARY
Winterkorn reaffirmed Audi's commitment to Hungary. There has been market speculation that could close its Gyor plant.
"We plan an output of between 1.4 and 1.5 million engines this year and this is Audi's third most important production site after Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm," he said.
He added, however, that Audi was also looking to establish other production sites further east in Europe.
"As all the other carmakers, we are of course considering production further east," he said.
Audi Hungaria, the country's largest single exporter, produced 1.35 million engines in 2003.