Volkswagen China Technology Company (VCTC), the Volkswagen Group's largest R&D center outside Germany, will launch an entry-level electric vehicle platform aimed at the Chinese market in 36 months, Volkswagen Group said on Friday.
The new platform, based on the Volkswagen Group's drive module matrix (MEB), will form the basis of electric vehicles specifically tailored to the requirements of Chinese customers.
“By developing an entry-level electric vehicle platform aimed at the Chinese market, we are addressing important development tasks within the framework of our strategy "in China and for China". We will bring the platform to maturity in just 36 months. This means that we will reduce development time by about a third and will be able to quickly attract new customer groups to the dynamic electric vehicle market in China,” said Ralf Brandstätter, Chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group China.
It is expected that that with a capital investment of about 1 billion euros (about 1.09 billion US dollars), VCTC will be operational in early 2024 and will employ more than 3,000 people by the end of the year.
The new company will combine state-of-the-art technologies from local suppliers early in product development to benefit more from the innovative power of the market. To this end, a 450,000 square meter supplier park is being built in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui Province. m.
According to the Volkswagen Group, around 1,100 local suppliers will provide both hardware and software, allowing advanced technologies and application concepts to be integrated into new products at an early stage.
Marcus Hufkemeyer, technical director of the Volkswagen Group in China, said:
