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.
