VW To Invest €4B in China Expansion; Shanghai Volkswagen Produces its Five millionth Vehicle

15 October 2009

On Thursday, Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW) produced its five millionth vehicle. Dr. Horst Neumann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG for Human Resources, used the occasion to assert that Volkswagen will continue its systematic growth course in China, and will invest €4 billion (US$6 billion) in new products and production capacity expansion in China between 2009 and 2011.

These investments will be financed from the cash flow of both Volkswagen joint ventures. Together with FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun, the second joint venture, the Group has delivered more than eight million vehicles from the Volkswagen, Audi and Škoda brands in China since 1984.

Over the last 25 years, SVW has increased its share capital from 160 million to 11.5 billion RMB (€1.13 billion, US$1.7 billion). Total assets have grown from 350 million to 32.3 billion RMB (€3.18 billion, US$4.7 billion). Shanghai Volkswagen, with headquarters in Anting International Auto City, has four vehicle production plants, one engine plant, a technology center and a design center. The SVW product range includes a total of eleven models from the Volkswagen brand (Polo Jinqing, Polo Jinqu, Cross Polo, Lavida, Santana, Santana Vista, Passat New Lingyu and Touran) and Škoda brand (Fabia, Octavia and Superb).

SVW passed the one million vehicle mark in 1998. Further milestones on the way to today’s production mark of five million vehicles came in June 2002 (two million), July 2005 (three million) and January 2008 (four million).