Starting In 2023, Volkswagen Ready To Build 1 Million Electric Vehicles Per Year In China

Volkswagen (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Volkswagen will be able to build 1 million electric vehicles per year in China by 2023, Volkswagen Passenger Car CEO Ralf Brandstaetter told Nikkei.

Quoted from Reuters on Sunday, Brandstaetter continued, this was driven by a new factory in Anhui province.

The factory, which is a joint venture with China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co (JAC), which was first announced in 2019, will produce 300,000 electric cars per year, with production starting in 2023.

Together with production from two further joint venture plants - one with FAW Group, and one with SAIC Motor - this will bring total capacity to the 1 million mark, Brandstaetter said.

Volkswagen could not immediately be reached for further comment.

The German automaker sold 70,625 of its ID electric vehicles in China last year, missing its target to sell 80-100k cars, with production also impacted by the regional COVID-19 outbreak in addition to chip-related issues.

Volkswagen China chief Stephan Wollenstein said at a briefing in Beijing in January earlier that the automaker wanted to double its ID electric vehicle sales this year, but warned that low semiconductor supplies could hamper its efforts.

Brandstaetter will take over Volkswagen's China business from August 1.

Under his tutelage, the automaker will step up local development in China, Brandstaetter told the Nikkei.

"In the past, our approach was to develop in Germany and localize in China. But this approach will be changed significantly by setting up more local resources for R&D, especially for software, to be faster, more independent in China," he said.