Audi suspends production at a key plant due to severe flooding in Southwest Germany.

Production at Audi's factory in Neckarsulm, in southwestern Germany, was halted after severe flooding hit the region.

The plant builds the A4, A5, A6, A7 and A8 models, as well as the R8 sports car and Audi's performance RS models.

Four people died in the floods and storms in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Neckarsulm is located.

Parts of the Audi factory were flooded following heavy rain on Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Audi said production was due to resume on the late shift on Monday. An Audi spokeswoman declined to specify the production shortfall at the site, which builds about 1,300 cars a day.

The plant employs 16,000 people and built 272,103 vehicles last year.

Audi is due to report first-quarter results on Wednesday after delaying publication due to VW's diesel emissions scandal.

Mercedes-Benz said the floods caused no disruptions at its factory in Untertuerkheim, also in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where about 18,000 people make engines, transmissions and axles.

Automotive News Europe

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Andreas Cremer 

Reuters

Renault expects to produce between 3,000 - 5,000 Alpine sports cars per year.

A Renault executive today revealed the output expectations for the automaker's Alpine-badged sports car.

"In terms of scale, on average [annual production] volume will be about 3,000 cars, with a peak of 5,000 initially due to the novelty factor," Alpine head Bernard Ollivier told Reuters in an interview.

Renault plans to launch production of the sporty brand at the end of 2016 and start selling Alpine models in Europe and key emerging market economies the following year, Ollivier, interviewed on the sidelines of an auto festival in Paris, said.

No further details were revealed, but a spokesman told Automotive News Europe that the project is "on schedule," adding that the automaker is "on track to deliver the model to customers in about two years."

Alpines have not been made since 1995. The new sports car will have a rear-mounted engine and be built at Renault's plant in Dieppe, northern France.

News of the revival coincides with Renault's celebration of the Alpine brand's 60th birthday. To mark the occasion, Alpine has created the Alpine Vision Gran Turismo, a virtual racing car that will feature in the Gran Turismo 6 video game.

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