BERLIN: Volkswagen AG (VW) will invest more than 4 billion euros (US$4.5 billion) in China this year, as spending plans for new SUVs and plug-in models are spared from cuts the carmaker makes elsewhere in the wake of its emissions scandal.
New models will include a locally produced Audi A6 plug-in hybrid in the second half, Volkswagen’s China boss Jochem Heizmann told reporters yesterday in Beijing.
The Audi A6 is among 15 new-energy vehicles the company plans to introduce within five years in China, where it just fell behind General Motors Co in annual sales for the first time since 2012.
Volkswagen’s investment is in-line with previous years as well as with plans set by former chief executive officer Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in September last year after the company admitted to cheating on emissions tests.
While the VW brand has targeted 1 billion euros in cost-cutting to weather the impact of the diesel pollution scandal, the company is plowing ahead with efforts to close gaps in its China lineup.
“There is no change in our investment programs in China this year and the coming years,” Heizmann said.
Volkswagen plans to introduce 10 SUV models to be produced locally within four years and is looking at ways of expanding its commercial vehicle business, Heizmann said, without elaborating.
China’s passenger vehicle sales may rise in line with or slightly better than the rate of GDP growth this year, Heizmann said.
The Chinese government is targeting an expansion of 6.5 percent to 7 percent this year, after recording a gain of 6.9 percent last year, the slowest in 25 years.
Volkswagen’s China sales probably will rise in line with the industry, Heizmann said.
