• Volkswagen given the green light for two plants in China

    Chinese government approves plans for Foshan and Yizheng
    Planned annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles for each plant


    Wolfsburg/Berlin, 28 June 2011 - As planned, the Volkswagen Group can build two further automobile plants in China, continuing its long-term growth strategy in the world's largest market for passenger cars. During the German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin, final approval was granted today for the plants to be built at Foshan and Yizheng. Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, today signed appropriate declarations together with the Presidents of the Chinese partner organizations.

    The factory at Yizheng, in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, is to be developed together with partner Shanghai Volkswagen, and the plant at Foshan, in Guangdong Province in southern China, will be built together with the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. The first documents for the development of the two sites were signed in the summer of 2010. "China is already the world's largest sales market for automobiles and further substantial growth is expected in the future," Winterkorn said on the occasion of signing the contracts at the Federal Chancellor's Office in Berlin. "The Volkswagen Group intends to play a major role in shaping this growth with new environmentally compatible models and the expansion of local production capacity. Our new plants show that Volkswagen remains a strong motor for the Chinese automobile industry."

    Each of the two plants will be designed for an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles and production is due to start in 2013. "The new factories are a key element in our plans to increase annual production capacity in China to three million vehicles in the medium term together with local partners," said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China in Berlin.

    In view of the dynamic development of the Chinese automobile market, Volkswagen had boosted its investment program for China to 10.6 billion euros for the period from 2011 to 2015. In addition to the two new plants, plans have already been announced to expand production capacity at each of the existing Nanjing and Chengdu plants to between 300,000 and 350,000 vehicles per year.
    Comments 4 Comments
    1. Corey_R's Avatar
      Corey_R -
      The factories in China are specifically for the China market only. As far as I'm aware, VW do not export any vehicles from China to other countries (well, not EU, USA, Australia anyway).

      In fact, the expansion of manufacturing for China was not part of the "50 billion euro" announced last year as part of the plan to reach the #1 spot. Separate funds were sourced for that from China itself, and partners.

      Whilst the article mentions these partners, and mentions the factories are to increase production for China, I thought I'd mention this anyway so no one starts panicing that their new Tiguan is going to come from China etc
    1. jets's Avatar
      jets -
      Not yet anyway. Do you remember the polo with a boot that was made in China & they tried to sell it here?
    1. phaeton's Avatar
      phaeton -
      While the Polo Classic was unsuccessful it does not mean that VW won't try again in the near future.

      Plants/Manufacturing are also being planned for Malaysia (Passat & Jetta) and Indonesia (Touran) although production is CKD and only for mentioned markets.
    1. gldgti's Avatar
      gldgti -
      Quote Originally Posted by phaeton View Post
      While the Polo Classic was unsuccessful it does not mean that VW won't try again in the near future.

      Plants/Manufacturing are also being planned for Malaysia (Passat & Jetta) and Indonesia (Touran) although production is CKD and only for mentioned markets.
      i think there were some "Santana" models produced in Malaysia in the past... like 70's/80's
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