A senior executive at Volkswagen AG in China has restated the company’s commitment to speeding up the process of vehicle electrification in China, by increasing charging posts.
This is despite facing challenges such as increasing competition and weak demand.
Reuters reported that Volkswagen has plans to increase the number of charging stations for electric vehicles in China to 17,000 by 2025, investing €15 billion in the country’s electric mobility, together with its three joint ventures by 2024.
According to the CEO of Volkswagen’s brand in China, Stefsn Mecha, “VW plans to increase the number of charging posts in China for electric vehicles to 17,000 by 2025, as it planned to invest 15 billion euros ($16.26 billion) in the country on electric mobility together with its three joint ventures by 2024. ”
Speaking to China’s EV 100 forum in Beijing, he said that the intense competition motivates the company to constantly innovate and improve.
In his words, “The market is flush with new, highly competitive players but strong competition simply motivates us to constantly innovate and improve.”
Although there has been a temporary decline in demand for electric vehicles in China, Mecha is optimistic about a future recovery.
It was reported that for the second time in four months, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD sold more passenger cars than Volkswagen-branded cars in China, which is the largest auto market in the world.
The CEO called on China to extend the purchase tax exemption on New Energy Vehicles beyond this year to support the sector. NEVs include both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
China extended the tax exemption on NEVs by one year in September.
