Volkswagen aims to double electric vehicle sales in this country
- Volkswagen had missed its sales target last year in the world's largest auto market China due to the ongoing global chip shortage crisis.
Volkswagen is planning to step up its EV offensive in the world's largest car market this year. The German carmaker has revealed that wants to double its sales in China in 2022 after missing its sales targets by a small margin last year.
Volkswagen is betting on its fleet of electric vehicles to take on some of the leading Chinese EV makers who dominate the market, besides foreign players like Tesla. In 2021, Volkswagen sold 70,625 of its ID series of electric vehicles in China. less than its target of 80,000. Volkswagen aims to increase sales of its ID battery electric vehicles by twofold after global chip crisis hit its production in 2021. The German carmaker manufactures its electric cars in China where it has joint ventures with local players like the SAIC Motor and FAW Group.
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“It was a pretty difficult year. We want to regain disproportionately what we have lost above average in the past year." said Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen's China operations.
Wollenstein is certain that Volkswagen would sell every ID car that could be built. The supply of semiconductors for 160,000 to 200,000 ID cars is assured. With the transformation to alternative drives, half of the new models launched in China this year should be electric cars. Domestic Chinese manufacturers are particularly strong here, which, from Wöllenstein's point of view, is unlikely to change. However, by the end of the decade, Volkswagen also wants to be number one in e-mobility in China.
China's EV market is currently dominated by local carmakers like BYD and Wuling. World's largest EV maker Tesla is placed at number three in terms of sales, and is the only foreign brand among the top 10 EV makers in the country.
Some 15% of all passenger cars purchased in China last year through November were either battery electric cars or plug-in electric hybrids, according to Russo. In November alone, electric car sales accounted for 21% of China’s overall passenger car sales.
Volkswagen Group, which also owns luxury brands such as Audi, Lamborghini and Porsche, sold 3.3 million cars in China last year. The sales figure is down by 14 per cent. The decline in 2021 mainly affected the volume brands Volkswagen and Skoda. The premium brand Audi did less badly with a minus of 3.6 percent compared to the previous year. Porsche was able to sell 8 percent and Bentley even 43 percent more cars. The overall market had grown by four percent. The VW Group's market share in China, which had long been 14 or 15 percent, fell to 11 percent.
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