Volkswagen Group invests €1-B to build new facility in China

Volkswagen Group announced that it is investing €1 billion to build a new factory in China.

According to the German automotive conglomerate, the new facility will become Volkswagen Group’s state-of-the-art development, innovation, and procurement center for fully connected intelligent electric vehicles in the southern Chinese city of Hefei.

The Volkswagen Group also announced the establishment of 100%TechCo, a new company that will integrate purchasing teams with vehicles and components research and development teams.

With the launch of 100%TechCo, the development times of new products and technologies will be gradually shortened by around 30 percent.

“The establishment of 100%TechCo is an important step of our ‘in China, for China’ strategy. By consistently bundling development and procurement capacities as well as integrating local suppliers at an early stage, we will significantly accelerate our development pace. This will also strengthen the efficiency of cooperation for our joint venture and increase our profitability,” Volkswagen Group Board Member for China Ralf Brandstätter was quoted saying.

In addition to bundling research and development for vehicles and components in China, 100%TechCo will also merge procurement into a joint unit. On that note, local suppliers will be involved in the early stages of product development in order to integrate the latest technologies and application concepts into new products. In addition, the new company will more closely integrate the development projects of all of the Volkswagen Group’s joint ventures in China – SAIC, Volkswagen, FAW-VW, and Volkswagen Anhui.

Heading 100%TechCo upon its launch in 2024 will be Chief Technology Officer of Volkswagen Group China Marcus Hafkemeyer.

“With 100%TechCo, we are opening a new chapter in our cooperation with our joint venture partners in Changchun, Shanghai, and Hefei, as well as the Group’s brands. We are fostering seamless collaboration to bring customized products to the Chinese market even faster and more efficiently. In a first step, 100%TechCo will steer the development of the models of the Volkswagen Anhui joint venture based on the MEB (Modular Electric Drive Matrix) platform and will be responsible for the development of China-specific platform requirements and modules with a focus on electric mobility,” commented Hafkemeyer.

Photos from Volkswagen Group

Also read: 

Volkswagen Group realigns management model in China

Volkswagen Group to invest €10-B in Spain

Volkswagen Group, Xanadu establish quantum simulation program for battery materials