SAIC-VW to build plant for EVs, report says
SAIC-Volkswagen Automotive Co., Volkswagen Group's joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., will construct a plant to build VW's I.D.-brand electric vehicles, according to a Chinese media report.
The factory is expected to start production in 2020, Beijing website Auto Market Online reported, quoting VW China CEO Joachim Heisman, who was interviewed this month at the Geneva auto show.
The first two products built at the plant will be a subcompact crossover and a compact crossover.
The two crossovers, developed on VW’s MEB EV platform, will each have a range of more than 400 kilometers. They can be recharged to 80 percent of their full capacity in 30 minutes.
They will arrive on the Chinese market in 2021, Auto Market Online reported, without disclosing additional details on the new plant or the crossovers.
VW CEO Matthias Muller last week announced in Germany that the group will assemble EVs at 16 sites globally by 2022. He didn’t specify the location of the sites.
China is the German auto giant’s largest market. In 2017, VW Group delivered nearly 4.2 million vehicles under various brands in China, an increase of 5.1 percent from 2016.
VW currently builds Volkswagen and Skoda vehicles at SAIC-VW. It also produces Volkswagen and Audi models at its joint venture with FAW Group Corp.
Earlier this year, the German group established its third joint venture in China, this time with Jianhua Automobile Co. The new venture, whose plant is still under construction in the east China city of Hefei, will assemble EVs for its proprietary brand.
The first two products built at the plant will be a subcompact crossover and a compact crossover.
The two crossovers, developed on VW’s MEB EV platform, will each have a range of more than 400 kilometers. They can be recharged to 80 percent of their full capacity in 30 minutes.
They will arrive on the Chinese market in 2021, Auto Market Online reported, without disclosing additional details on the new plant or the crossovers.
VW CEO Matthias Muller last week announced in Germany that the group will assemble EVs at 16 sites globally by 2022. He didn’t specify the location of the sites.
China is the German auto giant’s largest market. In 2017, VW Group delivered nearly 4.2 million vehicles under various brands in China, an increase of 5.1 percent from 2016.
VW currently builds Volkswagen and Skoda vehicles at SAIC-VW. It also produces Volkswagen and Audi models at its joint venture with FAW Group Corp.
Earlier this year, the German group established its third joint venture in China, this time with Jianhua Automobile Co. The new venture, whose plant is still under construction in the east China city of Hefei, will assemble EVs for its proprietary brand.
