costs by up to 50% by building EVs in China.
After opening its first Test Workshop in Hefei, China, on Tuesday, Volkswagen said for the first time that it can now develop and launch new vehicles outside of its home market.
Volkswagen claimed the new facility can slash development time by 30% while reducing costs by up to 50% by leveraging local tech and suppliers.
The German auto giant has already partnered with XPeng and Rivian to use new tech, software, and platforms for its next-generation EVs.
VW 2024 sales:
Delivery figures for the regions around the world:
Europe: 1,254,500 deliveries (down 1.7 per cent year-on-year)*
South America: 479,400 deliveries (up 21.1 per cent year-on-year)*
North America: 592,300 deliveries (up 18.4 per cent year-on-year)*
China: 2,198,900 deliveries (down 8.3 per cent year-on-year)*
Most of VW sales are export sales. They are increasingly competing with China EVs in those markets. VW must bring manufacturing costs down & pricing too to compete.
It is unknown, to me anyway, if German factories will be closed.
Perhaps China will remain the world EV manufacturing hub.