Volkswagen to Tighten Ties with Chinese Partners

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 10, 2001

Volkswagen to Tighten Ties with Chinese Partners

The German automobile giant, Volkswagen, will cooperate further with its partners in China and increase investment to upgrade its joint ventures in this rising car market, a senior executive said December 9 in Shanghai. The executive denied rumors that Volkswagen would control its two joint ventures in China , and pledged his company will continue cooperation with them.

Shanghai Int'l Auto Show Opens

Investment Increases

Wolfgan Glaeser, Volkswagen's sales manager for Asia-Pacific, said at a Shanghai Auto Exposition which opened Sunday that his company will increase its investment in China to 18.4 billion yuan in 2002 from 13 billion yuan earlier this year.

Volkswagen entered the Chinese market over 20 years ago. Its two joint ventures, Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, have become leading automobile producers in China, said Glaeser.

Car Sales Rise

China's car sales this year is expected to nearly double that of last year, and Glaeser attributed the progress partly to the introduction of Volkswagen's middle and top notch car models such as Audi and Passat.

Volkswagen expects the 2002 sales of Passat cars to run up to 70,000 units, and new Polo and Bora models to 50,000 respectively, said Glaeser.

FAW-Volkswagen is expected to sell 130,000 cars this year, up 16 percent year-on-year, and with the sales of Shanghai Volkswagen reaching 237,500. This will enable Volkswagen to continue to have half of China's car market, he said.

More High-quality Products

Glaeser said that Volkswagen is fully aware of the pressure of competition and challenges at China's car market after the country enters the World Trade Organization, and is determined to provide high-quality products to meet the demands of Chinese consumers.

FAW-Volkswagen's Bora and Shanghai Volkswagen's Polo cars are under trial production and will be put on the market next year.

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