Electric cars, this is how Volkswagen sets out to conquer China again
Scholz's visit didn't go well, but Volkswagen still doesn't want to give up on China. Eager to regain the market after overtaking BYD, the Wolfsburg car manufacturer has announced a new digital platform for electric vehicles. All the details
On a political level, Olaf Scholz's recent visit to China was not exactly a success . The German chancellor wanted a commitment from Beijing to reduce the large – and subsidized – overproduction of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, which flood markets and drive down prices, preventing German and Western companies from competing. But President Xi Jinping has shown no intention of putting the brakes on a sector crucial to the economic transformation of his country, which is also in an apparent moment of recovery.
CHINA RESPONDS TO SCHOLZ
“Chinese exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar products have enriched global market supplies and eased inflationary pressure, as well as made great contributions to global efforts to address climate change and the green transition,” it said. This is Xi's response to Scholz. Prime Minister Li Qiang added that China is not the only nation in the world to subsidize its factories and that production overcapacity "serves to ensure full competition and the survival of the fittest", including on the domestic market.
Despite growing industrial tensions, China remains Germany's largest trading partner, and Scholz said German companies want to increase investment in the country but are calling for a more favorable regulatory environment.
THE NEW DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE FROM VOLKSWAGEN
Among these companies is the car manufacturer Volkswagen, which announced the launch of a new digital architecture for electric vehicles: it is called China Electrical Architecture, it was developed together with the Chinese company Xpeng, it provides autonomous driving features and constant updating and should help the Wolfsburg group to recover the market compared to local brands such as BYD.
There are problems, however. As Bloomberg explains, Volkswagen's first electric cars featuring the new architecture won't hit the market until 2026; furthermore, many of the connectivity functions offered by the platform are already present in many Chinese-made electric models.
“IN CHINA, FOR CHINA”
China is the largest market in the world for electric vehicles and is fundamental for Volkswagen's sales, which however has ceded its lead in sales to BYD. To win back consumers, the German company has launched a plan dubbed "In China, for China": it means that Volkswagen will build cars in China and equip them with technological features (parking assistance systems and digital dashboards with large displays, for example ) most liked and sought after by local users.
THE TIMINGS
The first Volkswagen models equipped with the China Electrical Architecture platform will be four compact, low-priced cars, available from 2026. In the same year, two mid-range vehicles will also be released, again with the new architecture, but created in collaboration with Xpeng.
Volkswagen has made it known that the new architecture will allow it to reduce the number and complexity of the vehicle's electronic control systems, consequently allowing a reduction in production costs.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/volkswagen-cina-nuova-piattaforma-digitale-auto-elettriche/ on Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:02:41 +0000.