Germany's Volkswagen Group said that after a series of investments in China, it can now fully localize the production of electric vehicles in China. Moreover, the production cost is only half of that in other regions. This is also the first time it has developed a new car outside Germany, including testing and deploying new technologies such as assisted driving.
Volkswagen said that in the next five years, Volkswagen plans to launch about 30 electric models in China, betting on localized research and development capabilities.
According to the public,Benefiting from supply chain efficiency improvements such as more convenient battery procurement, shorter local research and development cycles, and lower labor costs, the production costs of some models in China have been reduced by as much as 50% compared with the production costs of electric vehicles in Germany in 2023.
In addition, the cycle for developing new electric vehicles in China is shorter, about 30% shorter than the traditional 50-month R&D cycle.
Thomas Ulbrich, chief technology officer of Volkswagen Group (China), said that this new R&D facility has brought a "new level of integration" to the engineering team. "We can now advance the software, hardware and vehicle verification processes in parallel, shorten the decision-making chain, and mature innovations faster."
Since the end of 2022, Volkswagen has invested nearly 4 billion euros in China to stay competitive during its rapid transition to electric vehicles.
In addition to building a new Hefei innovation center and investing in Horizon, Volkswagen has also reached a strategic partnership with Xpeng Motors and will jointly conduct research and development with Xpeng to improve synergy efficiency.
In addition, the report also pointed out that many European car companies are imitating China's rapid research and development model.Volkswagen is just one of several companies that has shortened development cycles by hiring large numbers of local engineers, working with Chinese partners and even dismantling vehicles from emerging rivals such as BYD.
