The company has signed a cooperation agreement with SAIC Motor Corporation to expand the main plant of the German-Chinese joint venture Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW) in Anting to meet the new challenges associated with the local production of electric vehicle models. With this decision, full localization of the Volkswagen Group’s electric vehicles in China is to be gradually implemented.
“This agreement lays the foundation for the further expansion of our commitment to Chinese society and the environment. We have been at home in China for more than 30 years. Over the next four years, we plan to localize more than 15 different electric vehicle models in China, including plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles,” said Jochem Heizmann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China.
With the development and local production of electric vehicles and components, Volkswagen is taking the next step in the further expansion of its research and development expertise in China. Research activities in the field of fuel cells and plug-in hybrid vehicles are to be intensified as well.
It was also agreed that a new C-segment model of the Volkswagen brand would be produced at the Anting plant, to the west of Shanghai, from 2016. In about four-year time, a new electric vehicle model based on Volkswagen’s Chinese bestseller, the Lavida, is due to roll off the production line at the Anting plant– this will be the first fully electric vehicle produced at the plant.
These agreements form part of the total investment of €22 billion in China planned by the Volkswagen Group together with its joint ventures by 2019.
Source: Volkswagen Group
