VW to make EV in China; first local model to debut in 2013
Top European automaker Volkswagen AG plans to make electric vehicles at its two China car ventures, with the first locally made model available on the market as early as 2013, reported local media.
Volkswagen will bring its VW Touareg hybrid SUV to China this year, reported auto.huanqiu.com, citing VW China president Karl-Thomas Neumann.
From 2014 to 2018, Volkswagen plans to sell 10,000 electric vehicles in China, Neumann said during an electric vehicle forum in south China. VW's joint ventures with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and FAW Group will produce electric vehicles.
Volkswagen is joining General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co., among others, in the race for China's fledgling EV segment.
GM has started making the electric version of its Chevrolet new Sail at its venture with SAIC. It also will bring its Chevrolet Volt, which runs about 40 miles on batteries before using engine power, to China in the second half of 2011.
Nissan, which runs a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group, has signed a deal with the municipal government of Wuhan to jointly promote its Leaf in the central Chinese city.
In June, Beijing unveiled a pilot scheme to hand out sales incentives of 60,000 yuan ($9,000) to purchasers of electric cars, and up to 50,000 yuan to buyers of plug-in hybrids.
In the first nine months of 2010, VW's group sales totaled 1.4 million units. With an 11 percent share of the market, VW is China's largest international automaker. General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. are the second and third largest, with group market shares of 6 percent each.
