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Premium carmaker Audi accelerates the pace of pivoting toward electric in China with a new EV plant
Chinese article by 爱集微
English Editor 张未名
09-28 15:28

German premium carmaker Audi is speeding up the process of electrification and is building a plant in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, in a joint venture with FAW Group, reported China Daily on September 27.

International carmakers are stepping up their investment in China thanks to the vast potential of the world's largest vehicle market and its improving business environment in the automotive industry.

Meng Wei, spokesperson of the China Development and Reform Commission, said China will further improve its policies for new energy vehicles and create a better environment for the sector's development.

In the first seven months of this year, sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in the country reached 3.2 million units, accounting for over 60 percent of the global total, according to statistics from the China Passenger Car Association.

At a recent industry forum, Helmut Stettner, CEO of Audi FAW NEV Co, said construction is progressing smoothly and production is expected to start in 2024 at the facility that will be dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles.

The German carmaker is investing around €2.6 billion ($2.51 billion) in the JV, in which it holds a majority stake.

China removed equity caps for international carmakers in electric car JVs in 2018 and the caps have been removed in all automotive segments from 2022.

President of Audi China Juergen Unser called the JV an important part of the German carmaker's new growth strategy in China, its largest market globally.

"In the years to come, we want to put an even stronger emphasis on China. The goal of our new strategy is to 'make Audi in China even more Chinese'," he said.

Audi stated that it chose the new location carefully, and one of the reasons is that Changchun has a sound industrial cluster.

In the city, Audi has been producing vehicles with FAW Group since 1988, and many suppliers for the new plant are already located in the region.

The Changchun government has put the automotive sector high on its blueprint. Ma Yanfeng, vice-mayor of Changchun, said the city is working on an international auto town involving carmakers and suppliers.

By 2025, the industrial output of enterprises above a designated size in the town will total RMB1.1 trillion ($153.6 billion), said Ma.

Local authorities in Jilin province have been improving the business environment by streamlining procedures to facilitate business operations.

Audi is one of many international carmakers that are revving up efforts to seize opportunities in the new era of electrification and connectivity in China.

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