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Volkswagen Launches Large Investment Program in China

Volkswagen Group has announced that it will invest €9.8 billion ($12.8 billion) in China by 2015, with more than two thirds of the sum to be used in low-consumption models development and sustainable production.
Volkswagen China 1 photo
Photo: Volkswagen
“Thirty years after entering the Chinese market, the Volkswagen Group is starting a new phase of sustainable growth. In the course of expanding production capacities, the two Chinese joint ventures of the Volkswagen Group will be investing more than €9.8 billion by 2015; investments in highly efficient products and resource-conserving production will account for more than two thirds of this figure,” the German automaker announced today.

As a result, the workforce in VW’s Chinese plants is expected to increase from 75,000 to more than 100,000 people by 2018, while annual production capacity is set to grow from 2.6 million to more than 4 million vehicles per year in 2018. The Volkswagen Group is building seven new plants in China, with five of them due to start production later this year.

Also, Volkswagen in planning to introduce several electrified models in China from 2014/2015, that will be built locally by the joint ventures Shanghai-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen.

“We will be launching the largest investment programme in China’s automotive history. At Volkswagen, we are convinced that climate protection and efficient technologies are drivers for economic growth. And I am confident that the world’s best automaker must take the lead in terms of green mobility, too,” Volkswagen Chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn said before the Shanghai Auto Show.
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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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