German auto giant Volkswagen announced Friday a total investment of around 2 billion euros to develop electrics in China, the world's largest automotive market.
China, which accounts for 40% of Volkswagen sales, is "the world's largest e-mobility market" and "in 2025, 1.5 million new energy vehicles will be sold in the country", underlines the group in a press release.
Our next chapter for business in China. 🇨🇳
Our CEO Herbert Diess: “Together with strong and reliable partners, Volkswagen is strengthening its electrification strategy in China.”
The investment will take a majority stake in a joint venture that Volkswagen already owns in China, JAC, to the tune of one billion euros.
Participation in a local battery manufacturer
"By taking control, Volkswagen is moving towards more electric models and infrastructure," says the German giant. A second billion will be used to acquire a stake in a local battery manufacturer, Gotion High-Tech.
China has become the largest automotive market in the world in recent years. But, for the first time since the 1990s, auto sales have been declining since 2018, amid widespread economic slowdown and trade tensions with the United States.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to a nearly 80% plunge in car sales in February.
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In France, Emmanuel Macron announced a support plan for the sector on Tuesday. He proposes to "make France the first nation to produce clean vehicles in Europe, by increasing the production of electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid vehicles to more than one million per year within five years"
