Volkswagen will begin production of electric vehicles at its two joint ventures from 2014, VW China president and CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann told an EU-China business convention in Beijing.
The plan is to be producing 100,000 units a year by 2018 as Volkswagen tries to help China cut pollution and reduce its dependence on oil.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“I am convinced e-vehicles will be a success in China because I think it is desperately needed,” he told the convention.
He added that Volkswagen, which has partnerships with SAIC Motor and FAW Group in China, would launch its first plug-in hybrid here in 2015. Both SAIC and FAW would develop their own EVs, he said.
Beijing is pushing EVs as a top priority with some US$15bn promised over the next 10 years to help China’s car industry become a world leader in clean vehicles.
