Volkswagen Introduced its Electric Platform Special to the Chinese Market
Volkswagen announced that it has developed a new platform to increase its competitiveness in the electric vehicle market in China. This platform will be used for affordable electric models that will be produced and sold only in China.
China is Volkswagen's Priority Market
To highlight the importance of the Chinese market, Volkswagen established a new company, Volkswagen Group China Technology Company (VCTC), in Hefei last week. This company has invested $1.1 billion to develop and manage Volkswagen's electric vehicle technologies in China. VCTC will have an employee staff of approximately 2.000 people.
Ralf Brandstaetter, Volkswagen's China CEO, shared the details of the new platform in his speech at the opening ceremony of VCTC. Brandstaetter said that this platform will be produced entirely from materials found in China and will allow Volkswagen to produce “affordable” electric models.
The New Platform is a Derivative of the MEB Platform
The name of Volkswagen's new platform has not been announced yet. However, according to Reuters, this platform will be a derivative of Volkswagen's existing electric vehicle platform, the MEB platform. The MEB platform is used in electric vehicles of brands such as Audi, Skoda and Seat, as well as Volkswagen's ID series electric vehicles.
The new platform will be cheaper and simpler than the MEB platform. Thus, Volkswagen will reduce its costs in China and speed up the production process. Additionally, the new platform will be designed according to the expectations and needs of Chinese users.
Affordable Electric Models are on the Way
Volkswagen stated that the electric models it will develop on the new platform will have a price between 19.000 and 23.000 dollars. These models will be in the entry-level electric vehicle segment and will compete against Chinese competitors.
Volkswagen plans to launch the first products of the new platform in 2026. Two of these models will be developed in partnership with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng. Thanks to its cooperation with Xpeng, Volkswagen aims to increase its share in the electric vehicle market in China.