The People’s Republic of China is the Volkswagen Group’s largest sales market.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel today visited the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg as Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen and representatives of Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corporation signed a contract to build a new plant in Urumqi, Western China.
A total of €170 million will be invested in the new plant, which will have a capacity of 50,000 vehicles starting in 2015. Volkswagen will also help automotive suppliers to settle near what is the capital of Xinjiang province, and will build its own training center.
The Volkswagen Group and China First Automobile Group Corp (FAW) also agreed on plans to extend the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture originally set up in 1991 by another 25 years. In 2011, market leader General Motor’s China sales were at 2.55 million and Volkswagen Group was second at 2.26 million.
“A 30-year success story unites Volkswagen and China. As a pioneer of the Chinese automotive industry we gave important momentum to China’s industrial development and to German-Sino economic relations,” said Winterkorn.
The People’s Republic of China is the Volkswagen Group’s largest sales market. Volkswagen deliveries in China increased by 15.6% to more than 633,000 units in the first three months of this year in a market that was down 1.7%. The two joint ventures, Shanghai-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, have a total workforce of 50,000, and produce vehicles, gearboxes, chassis and engines at ten plants.
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.
