Audi meets Mexican officials after plant dispute, says it is open to audit

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – German carmaker Audi said on Monday it was ready for Mexican officials to audit its plant in the central state of Puebla after holding talks with state and municipal authorities following a dispute over bill payments last week.

In a statement, Audi said it would hand over in full the documentation requested at Monday’s meeting, and that its plant in the municipality of San Jose Chiapa would be open to an audit whenever authorities wanted.

It did not say what the documents were.

Local media said last week that San Jose Chiapa was seeking some 90 million pesos ($4.25 million) in unpaid bills from Audi and that officials tried to close the plant on Friday evening. Audi responded by saying it was meeting its obligations.

Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa said a commission would be set up to determine what rights were due to municipal authorities and to establish what companies had to pay under the law.

Audi is the luxury car unit of Europe’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen .

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito, Sharay Angulo and Raul Cortes; Editing by Peter Cooney)