With the opening of three new FAW-Volkswagen vehicle plants at three locations – in Qingdao, Foshan and Tianjin – as well as the Volkswagen FAW Platform Tianjin Branch component plant, the Volkswagen Group is strengthening its localisation strategy in China.
The second recently-opened vehicle production plant in Foshan is a mega plant in south China. In addition, vehicle and component plants in Tianjin, northern China, were bundled at a single location.
Together with the existing gearbox plant, further synergies will be used there to increase production efficiency. All four new factories significantly increase the flexibility of Volkswagen Group China to react more quickly to customer needs.
At the recently opened FAW-Volkswagen factory in Tianjin alone, over 300,000 SUVs will roll off the assembly line each year, thus forming the basis for Volkswagen Group China’s SUV campaign.
With an annual production capacity now of 600,000 vehicles per year, the Foshan plant plays a pioneering role in the Volkswagen Group’s electrification strategy (“Roadmap E”). In Qingdao, too, electrified vehicles will be able to roll off the assembly line alongside cars with combustion engines in future.
In the words of Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China Professor Jochem Heizmann: “We continue to expect the car market in China to develop positively. Volkswagen Group China will continue to grow accordingly.
“That is why we kicked off our SUV and electric mobility campaign in China in 2018, so that we can respond to the needs of our Chinese customers even better than before.”
In late August 2018, Volkswagen Group opened its new FAW-Volkswagen plant in Tianjin. SUV models, including plug-in hybrid versions, are produced here for the Volkswagen and Audi brands.
Production capacity of the plant will be 1,200 units per day and 300,000 per year. In late June, Volkswagen FAW Platform Tianjin Branch opened a component plant to produce chassis for a variety of Audi and Volkswagen SUV models.
The opening of a second FAW plant in Foshan marks a significant milestone for the Roadmap E electrification strategy in China. Owing to the plant expansion in June 2018, annual production capacity in Foshan has increased from 300,000 to 600,000 vehicles.
In addition to new SUV models from Volkswagen and Audi, the vehicles currently manufactured on the MQB platform are gradually being electrified. Moreover: by 2020, production of modular electric drive matrix (MEB) vehicles as well as MEB battery systems is set to commence here.
Jochem Heizmann says: “We want to make a significant contribution to electrifying the Chinese passenger car market. Around 40 different electric vehicle models are to be produced in China by 2025.”
Production of Volkswagen models at the FAW-VW plant in Qingdao commenced in late May. This flexible manufacturing facility allows for MQB models with internal combustion engines as well as electric drive systems to be built on the same production line. FAW-Volkswagen will also produce battery systems for the MQB platform there.
The Volkswagen Group now has over 23 production sites in China and 123 worldwide.
