Volkswagen’s New Production Plant in China

Volkswagen, the German automobile conglomerate, is investing USD1.95 billion into Ningbo, China for their new production plant. This is the 16th plant in China and the 105th plant worldwide for the Group. Deployment of new production technology according to the Modular Transverse Toolkit (MQB) is going to happen in this plant and they are targeting a production capacity of 300 000 units of Volkswagen and SKODA models. This plant has initiated the economic and technical progress in China with the creation of 5700 new jobs and the application of new technology. It gives a new momentum from Ningbo into the South and West of Shanghai, a huge market that most businesses are eyeing. This plant is also one of the most environmentally compatible plants for the Group. The brand is setting a new standard in terms of sustainability and resource efficiency for the vehicle production sector in China. The technology involves a water heating process, supplying Ningbo via the steam from condenser, reducing usage of water in the paint shop by 90%. Emissions of carbon dioxide will be reduced by 15 000 tonnes as compared to the conventional process.

image: volkswagenag.com This plan has an estimated construction period of less than 2 years. Moving forward, there will be another plant in Changsha, which is located in South Central China, targeted to be completed by 2015. It is definitely a great move for Volkswagen as the Group’s largest sales market is in China. The Group plans to have a production capacity of approximately 4 million vehicles by 2018, based on 18% increase of deliveries to customers in China from January to September 2013, as compared to the same period in the previous year.