Companies
16/11/2017

$11.8 Billion Earmarked By Volkswagen Group For Development And Manufacturing Of Electric Cars In China




Volkswagen Group is attempting to completely comply with the forthcoming stringent electric vehicle rules in China and for this purpose the German car maker is planning on an investment to the tune of 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) by 2025 for the development and manufacture of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the company said. 
 
The China of the Volkswagen group Jochem Heizmann told the media that over the period of the next two to three years, the allied companies of Volkswagen AG and Audi AG has the intention of launching 15 of the so-called new energy vehicles (NEV) models. The group also has drawn up plans for the launch of an additional 25 more models after 2025.  
 
Automakers in China are now engaged in flurry of activities as they try their best to adhere to the rules and regulation related to NEV production and sales quotas in China – expected to be met by car makers by 2019. There have been multiple electric car deals and new launches for this purpose.
 
According to a spokeswoman of Volkswagen, seven though imported, the company already offers and sells about 10 NEVs models in the market in China.
 
The ultimate aim of the company is to be able to sell 400,000 new energy vehicles every year in China by 2020, Heizmann said while talking about the plans ahead of the Guangzhou auto show. The company further plans to touch annual sale of 1.5 million every year of NEVs by 2025. heavily electrified plug-in hybrids and all-electric battery cars are included in the NEV type of vehicles.
 
A single full charge on some of the planned models will have a running distance of 400 to 600 kilometers, Heizmann said. Compare that with Tesla’s Model S, the current leader in NEVs, which is able to travel a distance of 490 kilometers at the least and can even touch the 632 kilometer mark which is dependent on the capacity of the battery.
 
While claiming that the company would not need to purchase credits from other companies, Heizmann said that enough NEV sales volume will be able to be generated by the Volkswagen Group along with its group companies and the local China joint venture partners so that together they are able to account for the NEV quotas by the year 2019.
 
“We need high volumes of new energy vehicles... we are working on full speed on that.”
 
The same confidence was echoed in the words of the General Motors Co’s China chief Matt Tsien last week that together with the Chinese joint ventures, the company would be able to manufacture NEV sales volume which would be enough to account for the necessary NEV quotas by 2019.
 
Tsien said both GM and its China joint-venture partners “are working to at least meet, if not exceed, those credit mandate requirements.”
 
(Source:www.reuters.com) 

Christopher J. Mitchell
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