Volkswagen Group said on Thursday it plans to spend 10 billion
euros ($11.8 billion) by 2025 to develop and manufacture all-electric
and plug-in hybrid vehicles as it seeks to comply with upcoming
stringent rules in China.
The group, which includes
Volkswagen AG and Audi AG, intends to launch 15 of the so-called new
energy vehicles (NEV) models over the next two to three years, and an
additional 25 after 2025, China chief Jochem Heizmann told Reuters on
Thursday.
China’s NEV production and sales quotas,
which must be met by 2019, have prompted a flurry of electric car deals
and new launches as automakers in China race to ensure they do not fall
short. Automakers that do fall short will be required to buy credits.
Limited volumes
Volkswagen
currently has around 10 NEVs already on the market in China, although
all are imported models with limited sales volumes, according to a
company spokeswoman.
Heizmann, speaking ahead of the
Guangzhou auto show, added that the group is aiming to sell 400,000 new
energy vehicles per year in China by 2020 and 1.5 million per year by
2025.
NEVs refer to all-electric battery cars and heavily electrified plug-in hybrids.
Heizmann
said some of those models will have a 400-600km driving range on a
single full charge. By comparison, Tesla’s model S has a range of 490km
and as much as 632km depending on battery capacity, according to the
company.
Joint partners
The
Volkswagen Group is also confident that its group companies and their
local China joint venture partners will be able to generate enough NEV
sales volume to account for NEV quotas by 2019, Heizmann said, adding
that there will be no need to buy credits.
“We need high volumes of new energy vehicles... we are working on full speed on that.”
Last
week, General Motors Co’s China chief Matt Tsien told reporters GM’s
China joint ventures will be able to generate enough NEV sales volume to
account for NEV quotas by 2019 and without the need to buy credits.
Tsien
said both GM and its China joint-venture partners “are working to at
least meet, if not exceed, those credit mandate requirements.”
The Guangzhou auto show starts on Friday.
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