
Both VW and GM are on track to deliver 3 million or more vehicles in China during 2013.
The Volkswagen Group and its communist government mandated joint venture FAW-Volkswagen are now running a new vehicle production plant in Foshan, Southern China. The green site plant in Guangdong province has a capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year and now assembling the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf.
China is the Volkswagen Group’s largest sales market worldwide. In 2012, the company delivered more than 2.81 million vehicles to customers in the country. In the first eight months of this year, VW claims that deliveries rose by 18% compared with the comparable prior-year period to more than 2 million vehicles.
This is a close second to General Motors the long-time market leader at more than 2.2 million units. Both companies are on track to deliver 3 million or more vehicles during 2013.
The Foshan plant is the first production facility in China based on the modular transverse toolkit (MQB) and can simultaneously build Volkswagen and Audi models.
Capacity is expected to double in the next few years as Audi models are added, staring with the A3 at the end of this year.
The Foshan facility is said to be the first car factory in China to receive a Triple-Star Green Building Award, the highest state award available for environmentally compatible factory design. All of the plant’s wastewater is treated and reused, almost 90% of the waste and packaging material from the production process is recycled. As with all Volkswagen plants in China, Foshan has been certified to the ISO 14001 standard.
“This new plant creates 6,500 skilled jobs and will systematically foster new talent,” said Jochem Heizmann, CEO of Volkswagen Group China.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.