Volkswagen Group starts electro-mobility campaign in China

• CEO Prof. Dr. Winterkorn: “We are launching the biggest initiative for e-mobility in China’s automotive history.”

• Campaign gets underway with Electric-up!¹ and e-Golf² 

• Over €18 billion to be spent on new vehicles, technologies and plants up to 2018

• Over 500,000 employees at more than 3,600 dealerships in 2018 

• Vehicle deliveries in China targeted to top 3.5 million for first time in 2014

Wolfsburg / Beijing, April 19, 2014 – “The Volkswagen Group is once again assuming a pioneering role in China and launching the biggest initiative for e-mobility in China’s automotive history”, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, announced on the eve of the Auto China motor show in Beijing. The initiative gets underway with the launch this year of the Volkswagen brand’s Electric up!¹ and e-Golf² models.

While the Porsche Panamera S E-hybrid³ is already in the showrooms in China, the Group will be launching two further innovative plug-in hybrid vehicles there next year with the Audi A3 e-tron⁴ and the Golf GTE⁵. Starting in 2016, this will be followed by two models developed specially for the Chinese market: These are the Audi A6 and a new mid-size limousine from the Volkswagen brand, both plug-in hybrids which are being developed together with the joint venture partners FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen and will be produced locally. Furthermore, the Bentley Hybrid Concept opens a window on the broad-ranging potential of hybrid technology.

Winterkorn went on to say. “All these vehicles are highly efficient and eco-friendly. And at the same time they offer lots of driving pleasure. That is exactly what people all over the world and here in China expect of the Volkswagen Group. Thanks to the modular strategy, which is also being implemented at our Chinese factories, we can electrify nearly every model in our range: From small cars to large sedans, from pure electric drives to plug-in hybrids.”

As a result, the Volkswagen Group is making its Chinese vehicle fleet ever more efficient. 17 Group models already meet the updated legal requirements set by the Chinese authorities to qualify as ‘especially energy-efficient vehicles’. “Here in China, we are now setting out on the road to a future of emission-free mobility,” Winterkorn added.

Investments remain at record level

To that end, the two joint venture partners FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen are investing more than ever before in state-of-the-art vehicles and drives, green technologies and resource-efficient plants. €18.2 billion will be invested up to 2018. As Winterkorn commented: “Our team of over 2,700 engineers in China and our partners are working together on pioneering technologies, and we are banking on China’s innovative power.” The company will continue on its growth trajectory. Over the coming years, more than 20,000 new skilled jobs will be created in China alone.