AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/23 Report--

Ralf Brandstaetter, chief executive of Volkswagen Group in China, said in an interview with the German business newspaper that Volkswagen plans to sell 3.3 million cars in China this year, the same as in 2021, but down 14.3 percent from the previous estimate of 3.85 million, equivalent to a 16 percent market share.

According to data released by Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen Group delivered a total of 2.6221 million new cars in China in the first 10 months of 2022, down 5.9% from a year earlier, of which 263400 were delivered in October, up 11.3% from a year earlier. It is worth mentioning that Volkswagen also reiterated its earlier delivery target in China in July, but had to adjust it because of the supply chain crisis and the impact of epidemic prevention and control.

However, Ralf Brandstaetter said in an interview that Volkswagen was committed to investing in the Chinese market despite concerns that the carmaker was too dependent on the Chinese market. Brandstaetter said bluntly: "if we do not invest more in the region now, we will no longer be able to play a role in this important market in three years' time."

I have to admit that Volkswagen is more and more dependent on China and pays more and more attention to China. According to the data, Volkswagen's global sales fell 6 per cent year-on-year to 8.58 million vehicles in 2021, including a 14 per cent year-on-year decline to 3.3 million vehicles in China, the world's largest single market, with a 38 per cent market share. This means that for every 100 Volkswagen models sold in the world, 38 of them are from the Chinese market.

In addition, as the profit cow of Volkswagen Group, the Chinese market is also the largest single market for Porsche and Audi. According to the data, Porsche sold 301915 vehicles worldwide in 2021, of which 95671 were sold in China, making it the world's largest single market for the seventh consecutive year, with a market share of 32.8%. Audi sold 1680512 vehicles worldwide in 2021, of which 701289 were sold in China, which accounted for 41.7 per cent of the total global market.

Affected by the epidemic and spare parts supply, Volkswagen sold 2.3588 million vehicles in China in the first three quarters of 2022, down 7.5 per cent from a year earlier. However, Volkswagen's concern is not that sales are falling, but that it is electrified and intelligent. At present, new energy vehicles are the main battlefield of China's auto market, while Volkswagen's current report card is far from keeping up with its ambitions. In 2021, for example, Volkswagen delivered 369000 new energy vehicles worldwide, of which 93000 were delivered in China, lagging far behind Tesla and BYD.

At present, the main electric vehicles launched by Volkswagen Group in China include ID.3, ID.4 and ID.6, but the market performance can only be said to be satisfactory. In the first three quarters of 2022, FAW-Volkswagen sold 73564 new energy vehicles, while SAIC-Volkswagen sold 65573 vehicles, ranking 14th and 15th on the list, according to FIFA data. In terms of specific models, only ID.4 CROZZ appeared on the list in the first three quarters, ranking 13th with sales of 35388 vehicles, while Tesla's Model Y sales reached 219112, while new power models such as Zero running C11, Lilai ES6, ideal ONE and other new power models from the new power are also ahead of it. It can be said that Volkswagen still has a lot of deficiencies before Tesla and its own brand.

"We are the best in the world of internal combustion engines, but in the new world we call NEW AUTO, what awaits us is a war we have never experienced before," said former Volkswagen Group CEO Deiss. Indeed, in the wave of great changes in the automobile industry, Volkswagen still needs to make changes if it wants to catch up with Tesla and the new power in China.

To strengthen local R & D capabilities, CARIAD, a software company owned by Volkswagen Group, announced that it will invest about 2.4 billion euros (16.8 billion yuan) in a joint venture with Horizon to speed up the development of advanced driving assistance systems and self-driving systems for the Chinese market. "this is the largest single investment since Volkswagen entered China 40 years ago," said Baird, CEO of Volkswagen Group (China). It said that China is the group's most important business region in the world, and the cooperation with Horizon is the core cornerstone of the group's strategic transformation in China and strengthening its business in China. Local R & D will give the group more autonomy and further consolidate its leading position in the Chinese auto market.

Data show that Volkswagen sold 366400 pure electric vehicles in the first three quarters of 2022, an increase of 25.05 percent over the same period last year. China is the main source of sales growth, with total sales of 112700 vehicles in the first three quarters, an increase of 139.28 percent over the same period last year. China is Volkswagen Group's largest single market in the world, accounting for 31% of the world's total market share. Brandstaetter pointed out that Volkswagen needs to invest more in China to compete with local electric car brands. Local electric car brands accounted for 80% of China's electric vehicle sales in the first three quarters, while Volkswagen Group's New Energy vehicle is the best-performing foreign electric vehicle, with the exception of Tesla, according to the Federation.

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