Volkswagen celebrates 20 years of partnership with FAW in China

Volkswagen celebrates 20 years of partnership with FAW in China

• More than 15,000 skilled jobs created in two decades


• Winterkorn: Further growth in “second home of China” expected

WOLFSBURG / CHANGCHUN : August 26, 2011 - One of the Chinese automotive industry’s success stories began twenty years ago: In 1991, Volkswagen and First Automotive Works (FAW) set up the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. Some 4,500 guests celebrated the joint venture’s 20th anniversary yesterday evening at a ceremony in Changchun. FAW-Volkswagen is currently one of China’s largest automobile manufacturers and has built five million vehicles since operations began. The anniversary vehicle, a “New Magotan”, left the assembly line in Changchun this week. The company expects annual production to top the one million mark for the first time this year.

At the ceremony in Changchun Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, looked back on 20 exciting and successful years of cooperation. The FAW-Volkswagen joint venture is today one of the largest and most innovative car manufacturers in China. "Together with our partner FAW we have played a decisive role in shaping mobility in China and created more than 15,000 jobs," Winterkorn said. "Alongside our strong partners we are aiming to grow further in our second home of China and to create new jobs. We have laid the right foundations with targeted investments of €10.6 billion in capacity expansion and innovative and emotional vehicles."

The People’s Republic of China has been the Group’s largest sales market since 2009, FAW-Volkswagen is a leading manufacturer in the country’s automobile industry. The company produces Volkswagen and Audi brand vehicles as well as parts and components at its plants in Changchun, Chengdu and Dalian. With an ever-growing model range that today includes vehicles such as the Golf or the long-wheelbase Audi A6, FAW-Volkswagen is targeting annual production in excess of one million units for the first time in 2011.

Apart from the joint venture with FAW, Volkswagen also operates a second joint venture in cooperation with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). In total, the Group with its Volkswagen, Audi and Škoda brands employs over 40,000 people at its production sites in China and is aiming to sell more than two million vehicles for the first time this year.

FAW-Volkswagen: Key facts

• 1988: Start of cooperation with First Automobile Works (FAW) in China Licensed production of Audi 100 begins


• 1991: "FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company Ltd." founded in Changchun, Changchun plant built


• 1995: AUDI AG incorporated into FAW-Volkswagen as the third shareholder


• 1996: FAW-Volkswagen Sales Company founded


• 2004: FAW-Volkswagen’s second plant opened in Chengdu, "Volkswagen FAW Platform Company Ltd." and "FAW Engine (Dalian) Company Ltd." founded


• 2007: Volkswagen FAW Engine in Dalian begins production


• 2011: Capacity expansion at FAW-Volkswagen in Chengdu begins


• 2011: Construction of a new FAW-Volkswagen plant in Foshan gets underway

[Source : VOLKSWAGEN]

Volkswagen given the green light for two plants in China

• Chinese government approves plans for Foshan and Yizheng Planned annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles for each plant

WOLFSBURG/BERLIN : June 28, 2011 - As planned, the Volkswagen Group can build two further automobile plants in China, continuing its long-term growth strategy in the world's largest market for passenger cars. During the German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin, final approval was granted today for the plants to be built at Foshan and Yizheng. Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, today signed appropriate declarations together with the Presidents of the Chinese partner organizations.


The factory at Yizheng, in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, is to be developed together with partner Shanghai Volkswagen, and the plant at Foshan, in Guangdong Province in southern China, will be built together with the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. The first documents for the development of the two sites were signed in the summer of 2010. "China is already the world's largest sales market for automobiles and further substantial growth is expected in the future," Winterkorn said on the occasion of signing the contracts at the Federal Chancellor's Office in Berlin. "The Volkswagen Group intends to play a major role in shaping this growth with new environmentally compatible models and the expansion of local production capacity. Our new plants show that Volkswagen remains a strong motor for the Chinese automobile industry."

Each of the two plants will be designed for an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles and production is due to start in 2013. "The new factories are a key element in our plans to increase annual production capacity in China to three million vehicles in the medium term together with local partners," said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China in Berlin.

In view of the dynamic development of the Chinese automobile market, Volkswagen had boosted its investment program for China to 10.6 billion euros for the period from 2011 to 2015. In addition to the two new plants, plans have already been announced to expand production capacity at each of the existing Nanjing and Chengdu plants to between 300,000 and 350,000 vehicles per year.

[Source : VOLKSWAGEN]

SEAT to launch in China, extending its international reach

2011 SEAT Range

• Company to make official presentation this month at the Shanghai Motor Show
• Presentation of SEAT’s most popular models – the IBIZA and LEON

MARTORELL : April 12, 2011 - For the first time in SEAT’s history the company will be present at the Shanghai Motor Show (April 21-28, 2011) as part of the Brand’s strategy of expansion into new markets. The Company’s immediate objective is to establish the Brand in the mind of potential customers before sales begin with the LEON and IBIZA models in 2012.


SEAT Chairman James Muir said: “the Chinese market offers a great opportunity for a brand like ours. SEAT is synonymous with design, being young in spirit and sportiness, attributes which are greatly appreciated in this market”.

SEAT has identified that there is a large demand for distinctive European cars among consumers in China and believes that the timing is right to expand into this key market. “Our research shows that Chinese car-buyers value performance and dynamism. Furthermore, technology and state-of-the-art engineering are important to them and they are very design conscious. On this basis, we are satisfied that SEAT will bring something fresh and new to the car market in China, helping us to establish a brand identity and a position in the market which is uniquely SEAT’s,” explained Muir.

SEAT’s aim is to gradually enlarge its footprint in China with vehicles manufactured in Spain, at the Martorell production plant.


SEAT is the only company in its sector with the full-range capacity to design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting approximately 75% of its production to 72 countries. SEAT is market leader in Spain, and in 2010 reached a trade volume amounting to 4.7 billion euros, with total sales of 339,500 vehicles.

SEAT Group employs 13,000 professionals at its three production centres in Barcelona - Zona Franca, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon, amongst other models. The Volkswagen Group production facility at Palmela in Portugal supplies the SEAT Alhambra.

The Spanish multinational also has a Centre of Excellence or ‘knowledge hub’, bringing together more than 900 engineers whose remit is to be the driving force behind innovation for the number one industrial investor in R&D+i in Spain. In line with its declared commitment to environmental protection, SEAT undertakes and bases its core activity on criteria of sustainability, namely reduction of CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, as well as recycling and re-use of resources.

[Source : SEAT]

Dongfeng Honda to build second Auto Plant in China

Dongfeng-Honda Spirior

WUHAN, China, January 20, 2010 - Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., an automobile production and sales joint venture of Honda in China, announced plans to build a second automobile production plant in order to meet continued growing demand in the Chinese market.


To build the second plant, the company is planning to acquire one million square meters of land, approximately four kilometer northeast of the existing plant, within the Wuhan, Hubei Province, Economic and Technological Development Area where the first plant is based. The new plant is scheduled to become operational in the latter half of 2012 with annual production capacity of 60,000 units. The company envisions the future expansion of production capacity to 240,000 units. The initial investment will be approximately 1.15 billion R.M.B. (approximately 15.4 billion yen*).

Dongfeng Honda’s new plant will accommodate production processes including welding, painting and assembly and is expected to be an advanced plant utilizing production technologies refined at the existing plant, as well as adopting new environmental technologies. In fact, this plant will be the first Honda production plant to generate a portion of the electricity used for production processes from solar panels, which is expected to lead to a reduction of CO2 emissions by approximately 500 tons a year. In addition, the new plant will strive to achieve a significant reduction of CO2 through other measures such as utilization of natural light and waste heat.

Prior to building the second plant, Dongfeng Honda is planning to expand annual production capacity of its existing plant from the current 200,000 units to 240,000 units in early 2010. When the second plant begins production, Dongfeng Honda will have a combined annual production capacity of 300,000 units. In addition, flexible production between the two plants will enable Dongfeng Honda to better fulfill the ever diversifying needs of customers in China.

Dongfeng Honda has been producing the CR-V since April 2004, the Civic since 2006 and the Spirior since August 2009. The company's sales results have continued strong, with 2009 sales of 211,000 units, up 28.2% compared to 2008, achieving a record high for a fifth consecutive year.

When Dongfeng Honda’s second plant begins production, Honda’s overall annual automobile production capacity in China will reach 710,000 units -- 300,000 units at Dongfeng Honda; 360,000 units at Guangzhou Honda; and 50,000 units at Honda Automobile (China), an export automobile production joint venture.

[Source : HONDA]