The Volkswagen Group says it is strengthening its SUV offensive in China with the launch of the new FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant.
The new production facility will produce SUV models for the Volkswagen brand and Audi brand, expanding Volkswagen Group China’s production capabilities in the region. The Tianjin plant will offer significant production synergy and raise efficiency together with the new Volkswagen FAW platform Tianjin Branch, a component plant launched in June, which will supply the chassis for the SUV models built in the FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant. Through these two facilities, Volkswagen Group China is further advancing its production capabilities in Northern China.
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“Together with the Volkswagen FAW Platform Tianjin Branch, the FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant is an important cornerstone of Volkswagen Group China’s localisation strategy in China. I am also very proud of our great progress in green production and synergy processes, for which these two new facilities stand,” said Prof Dr Jochem Heizmann, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft as well as president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China.
FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant is located in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Zone and will produce SUV models for both the Volkswagen brand and the Audi brand, including PHEV models. The facility’s daily production capacity will be 1,200 units, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 units.
“Our team has done a tremendous job,” said Dr Jurgen Unser, vice president and board member of FAW-Volkswagen. “With 23 months completion time, the factory has set a new construction record. Efficient cost and investment management before and during development was a key factor. This success is also based on our diversity: Chinese managers and Volkswagen colleagues from six different countries ensured expertise with a global and local perspective in the plant management.”
As a green factory, the new Tianjin plant will introduce a number of state-of-the-art sustainability measures, including world-leading volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions control technologies and solar photo-voltaic technologies. The paint shop is the first in a FAW-Volkswagen plant to use a non-VOC cleaning agent. The facility will also focus on reusing water, with a reuse rate of 98%. By recycling and utilising the waste water, the Tianjin plant will save up to 300,000 tons of water annually. Through these measures, the FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant has earned a 3-star building award, emphasising Volkswagen Group China’s commitment to utilising sustainable and eco-friendly technologies.
The location of the new plant near the Volkswagen FAW Platform Tianjin Branch and Volkswagen Automatic Transmission plant Tianjin will reduce delivery times, and therefore stock levels in the production plant, resulting in lower supply costs and CO2 emissions in the supply chain. The partnership with these two factories will enable them to react to customer demand more rapidly and allow for increased synchronisation in car production.
The plant also adopts many innovative processes. A visualisation system has been adopted across the facility’s workshops, which processes and analyses production yield, manufacturing status and any production malfunctions, using a comprehensive factory-level approach. FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant closely follows the Volkswagen Group’s most comprehensive construction standards and principles of the ‘Perfect plant’, leading the way for future expansion across China.
