Volkswagen to invest 15b euros in e-mobility with Chinese partners
CGTN
The revised logo of German carmaker Volkswagen AG is pictured during a preview of the world's biggest automaker at the international Frankfurt Motor Show IAA in Frankfurt, Germany, September 9, 2019. /Reuters

The revised logo of German carmaker Volkswagen AG is pictured during a preview of the world's biggest automaker at the international Frankfurt Motor Show IAA in Frankfurt, Germany, September 9, 2019. /Reuters

German carmaker Volkswagen is positioning itself to take a leading role in the development of China's new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry, with plans for large-scale financial investment in the coming years. 

Volkswagen, together with its Chinese joint-venture partners, will invest 15 billion euros (about $17.5 billion) in China alone by the end of 2024, fueling the country's e-mobility push, Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said on Monday. 

Wollenstein made the announcement at the Sino-German Forum on Cooperation and Development of NEVs, part of the ongoing 2nd World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC 2020), held in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. 

"By 2025, Volkswagen Group will have an annual requirement of 150 GWh of battery capacity in China," Wollenstein said, noting that the company has partnered with Chinese battery manufacturers such as Gotion High-tech Co., Ltd. and CATL. 

The company is placing 40 super-charging stations in Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen, and plans to build 255 more stations equipped with 1,800 charging poles across 16 Chinese cities by the end of 2020. 

Volkswagen appreciates China's climate target of having CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, which is fully in line with the group's "goTOzero" environmental mission, Wollenstein said. 

"We're remaining an active partner in the nation's drive toward electrification and carbon neutrality in the future," he added. 

Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG, said in a video speech at a WNEVC 2020 plenary meeting that 26 million electric cars are due to be delivered by Volkswagen by 2029, a majority of them delivered in China. 

Volkswagen announced in May that it would invest around 2.1 billion euros in e-mobility in China, of which 1 billion euros would be used to raise Volkswagen's stake in the e-mobility joint venture with China's JAC Motors from 50 percent to 75 percent, and to acquire a 50-percent stake in JAC's parent company JAG.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency