- Volkswagen announced at the Shanghai Auto Show this week that it will invest around 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) in an electric car development and business center in Hefei, a city near Shanghai that is ‘has become an automotive center, home to Nio’s China office and others.
- The company also revealed its new ID.7 sedan, which will launch in China and Europe this fall, and in North America next year.
Volkswagen’s ID.7 will be launched in Europe and China in autumn 2023 and in North America in 2024.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
BEIJING – German carmaker Volkswagen is investing about $1 billion in China for electric car development and launching a vehicle aimed at the higher end of the market.
The company announced at the Shanghai auto show this week that it will invest around 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) in an electric car business and development center in Hefei, a city near Shanghai that it has become an automotive hub, home to Nio’s China office and others. .
German investment in China grew nearly 61 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. Overall, foreign investment in China grew 4.9% year-on-year in the first three months of the year to 408.45 billion yuan ($59.33 billion).
The new Volkswagen business center will be operated by a new company called “100%TechCo” and will be operational in 2024 with more than 2,000 employees, the automaker said in a statement.
The general manager of the new entity will be Marcus Hafkemeyer, currently director of technology for Volkswagen in China, according to the statement.
By involving local suppliers in the early stages of product development and integrating Volkswagen’s three joint ventures in China, 100% TechCo can reduce product and technology development times by 30%, the manufacturer claimed of automobiles
Volkswagen also celebrated this week the world premiere of its new sedan ID.7. The all-electric vehicle will launch in China and Europe this fall, and in North America next year.
Vehicles for China will be produced locally, while those for Europe and North America will be produced in Germany, Volkswagen said.
The German company did not disclose a price, but said the ID.7 is its first all-electric car “for the upper-middle class.”
China is the world’s largest electric car market. In March, sales of luxury cars grew 17 percent year-on-year, faster than the 0.3 percent increase in passenger car sales, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
The ID.7 has a range of up to 700 kilometers (435 miles) and includes technologies such as lane change assistance on motorways and parking, according to a statement.
The sedan also features an “augmented reality head-up display,” a technology that allows information about the road and the car to appear to the driver as projections on the road. Volkswagen first introduced the technology in its ID.3 and ID.4 electric models.
The ID.7 is set to come with a panoramic sunroof whose transparency can be changed using a touchscreen-like function and voice command, the company said.
