On April 17, Germany's Volkswagen AG said that it plans to launch 10 more electric vehicle models by 2026. The company has been the top selling passenger vehicle brand in China for decades, but is now losing ground in the country to local counterparts. In 2022, the company reported a sales loss of 3.6 percent to 31.8 lakh vehicles.
Chief Executive of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Thomas Schafer while speaking at the Shanghai auto show said ‘As Volkswagen, we remain firmly committed to China. Our guiding principle is development in China, for China at full speed.’ Unveiling the upper-end ID.7 EV model, Schafer added that Volkswagen plans to introduce 10 more EV models by 2026.
Thomas Schafer added, ‘The company is investing heavily with its Chinese joint venture partners in design, production as well as research and development, adding it has up to 2,000 developers in its R&D hub in Anhui province.’
Chinese EV maker BYD, In February, outsold Volkswagen-branded cars to become the best-selling passenger car brand in China.
Volkswagen, earlier this year said that it aims to speed up its time to market for new models from four years to closer to the 2.5-year average for its Chinese counterparts, in part by localising research and development for Chinese models even further.
(Edited by : Vahishta Unwalla)
