The automotive industry faces a tougher year in 2012 than it has done this year, Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler told Reuters in an interview for release on Dec 25.

"But this should not be a reason to fall into pessimism," he said, adding that the automotive industry will continue to grow over the next 10 years thanks to the enormous appetite for mobility among people in developing economies.

He said he expects China's automotive market to grow 8 to 9 percent, with its premium segment expanding 20 percent or even 30 percent, though he did not give a timeframe.

Audi is the market leader in the luxury segment in China, well ahead of German rivals BMW and Daimler AG's Mercedes.

Stadler, who has set a goal of making Audi the world's top premium car maker by 2015, told Reuters carmakers have a better chance of growing in the premium segment because emerging markets like China will produce a crop of millionaires in dollar terms.

Audi is aiming for the top position in the United States, which has the world's biggest premium segment at nearly 2 million cars, he said. The company currently runs behind both BMW and Mercedes in that market.

He said a new production plant there would help, but it was still unclear where the facility would be based.

He noted that wages in Mexico were cheaper than in the United States, where parent Volkswagen already has a factory. But he said if Audi were to join the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, "the investments would certainly be somewhat less," although exporting cars out of the United States would have high customs fees.