CHANGCHUN - The FAW-Volkswagen Audi Q plant in Changchun city, Northeast China's Jilin province, went into operation Thursday.

The plant, with an investment of 6.4 billion yuan ($1 billion), is designed to have a capacity of 150,000 units a year and is dedicated to the manufacture of high-end Audi Q models.

The plant is projected to generate an output value of 160 billion yuan a year.

The plant has 510 robots at its welding and painting workshops.

A record 595,288 Audi vehicles were sold in China last year, up 1.1 percent year-on-year. The Sino-German auto joint venture FAW-Volkswagen Automotive plans to roll out 16 new Audi models in China this year.