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Two weeks ago, SAIC Volkswagen also announced a price cut, its ID.3 model up to 37,000 yuan, currently sold from 125,900 yuan, the campaign deadline is July 31, and limited to 3000 units. The news quickly spread to Germany and caused dissatisfaction among local netizens. According to Volkswagen Germany's official website, the latest price of ID.3 is 39990 euros, about 322,200 yuan, 2.5 times the price in China.

A German netizen said,"Germans need to spend 40,000 euros to buy ID.3, which is used to subsidize Chinese consumers, who only need to pay 16,000 euros." Another German netizen said,"Germans should not buy Volkswagen anymore, its price in the Chinese market has dropped to 15,000 euros, but in Germany it needs to pay 40,000 euros. How stupid do the Germans think?" Another netizen said,"German Volkswagen must be desperate, I must be a complete idiot to spend a lot of money to buy the same car."

Even before the price cut, ID.3 was still cheaper in China than in Germany. However, some netizens posted ID.3 sales rankings in China and said Chinese consumers did not like ID.3.

According to the data, ID.3 sold 13665 vehicles accumulatively in the Chinese market in the first half of the year, ranking 37th in China's pure electric vehicle market and 6th in China's joint-venture pure electric market. The top five models are smart Spirit #1, BMW i3/iX3, Buick Micro Blue 6 and Volkswagen ID.4 CROZZ respectively, among which Volkswagen ID.4 CROZZ is 13665. Admittedly, ID.3 is not popular in the domestic pure electric vehicle market, but its performance is better than other joint ventures pure electric.

Not only ID.3, ID.4/ID.6 in the Chinese market prices are much lower than in Germany. After the price reduction, ID.4 starts at 183,900 yuan in the Chinese market, while the model sells for 42635 euros in Germany, about 343,700 yuan.

A Volkswagen spokesman told German media that the price difference between the two places is caused by multiple factors, one of which is that the Chinese market has an advantage in production costs and lower energy costs. The second is that all suppliers of this model come from China, and the shorter transportation route and lower production cost make the sales price cheaper. The third is Tesla, BYD and other manufacturers "price war" intensified, Volkswagen is not far behind.

However, some of the spokesman's comments appeared to conflict with comments by VW China CEO Fred Baird, who said,"For us, the profitability of the business is the most important thing." We will not engage in unhealthy market competition to achieve short-term delivery growth."

In fact, Volkswagen is also forced to cut prices in the Chinese market, its electric vehicles lack competitiveness in the Chinese market, sales can not compete with local electric vehicles.

'We will continue to play our advantage in the fuel car market,' Mr. Berry said. This year, Volkswagen Group's share of China's fuel vehicle market increased from 18% to 20%. In the coming years, we will continue to strengthen our product lineup with new models such as the new Tiguan, Sagitar, Magotan and Audi Q4 and Q8. By 2030, the Volkswagen Group will introduce a total of 17 new fuel models. By 2030, Volkswagen Group brands will sell no less than 30 pure electric models.

Beredd stressed that Volkswagen needs to be more agile in its decision-making in the transition to electrification. "From the perspective of international automakers, China has become our 'fitness center'. We have to 'train' ourselves harder and faster to keep up with market trends."

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