Dealerships open as VW plans China EV production

Volkswagen Group says all of its more than 2000 dealerships are now open for business with showroom traffic during the last weekend of March comparable to the same period last year.

More than 95% of the Audi and Škoda dealerships have also reopened.

The SAIC Volkswagen joint venture plant in Changsha also resumed operations this week. The total number of Group facilities that have resumed operations has risen to 32 of the 33 car and component plants.

“There are growing signs of recovery, with a good chance that the Chinese car market could reach last year’s level in early summer,” says Volkswagen Group China chief executive officer Stephan Wöllenstein.

Wöllenstein says in the second half of the year, two Volkswagen Group China plants will begin local production of all-electric models based on Volkswagen’s modular electric drive toolkit (MEB).

“The sites in Anting and Foshan will have a combined capacity of 600,000 units per year,” he says.

“Following the start of this production, Volkswagen ID. models – a family of fully-electric, fully-connected cars – will then debut in China. Additionally, local production of Audi’s e-tron will get underway in Changchun at the end of the year,” Wöllenstein says.