VW to Invest 12 Bn Yuan in China in Coming 5 YearsNews from the Volkswagen Automotive (China) Investment Ltd. shows that the German Volkswagen will invest a total of 12 billion yuan in China in the coming five years.Dr. Robert Buchelhoder, the Asia-Pacific regional president as well as the Market and Sales Director of Volkswagen said that the company will still focus its investment on China in the Asia-Pacific region. In the coming five years, Volkswagen will invest in this region 1.84 billion euro- dollars (about 13.88 billion yuan), of which 1.6 billion euro-dollars (an equivalent to 12.07 billion yuan) will go to the Chinese market, taking up 87 percent of the total investment in the region. Its annual sales goal in China is to be 450,000 cars in these five years. Buchelhoder said that this year the Volkswagen would strengthen its brand image, enlarge its sales and service-networks, and optimize its purchasing procedures in the Asia-Pacific region, and consolidate its achievement already obtained in this region. After China's accession to the WTO, the German Volkswagen will gradually introduce new car models to meet the needs of Chinese consumers and enhance its competitiveness in Chinese market. This year, the Volkswagen will lay its stress on developing small and medium-sized cars. The Volkswagen's joint ventures in China will give debut to two models of cars in late this year and bring the Chinese manufactures of corollary equipment into its global fitting purchase system at the same time. Last year saw the Volkswagen realize a sale of 430,000 cars in the Asia-Pacific region, a growth of 10 percent over the previous year and an increase of 5.4 percent in market shares. Its sale in the Chinese market has grown from 315,000 cars in 1999 to last year's 336,000, accounting for 54 percent of the Chinese car market with a growth rate of 6.5 percent. By PD Online Staff Deng Gang |
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