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Volkswagen revolutionizes car development: full power in China!
Volkswagen has expanded its development center in China in order to develop local models for the market more quickly and to ensure competitiveness.
Volkswagen revolutionizes car development: full power in China!
The automotive world is becoming more and more dynamic, and this is particularly noticeable at Volkswagen. How World reports, the group has massively expanded its development center in Hefei, China. The new strategy “In China for China” means that all of Volkswagen’s new models, platforms and key technologies can now be developed completely locally, without having to take the detour via Wolfsburg. The company relies on over 100 state-of-the-art laboratories and its own electronics architecture in order to best meet the requirements of the Chinese market.
A central goal of this development is to accelerate production processes. Development times were shortened by around 30 percent. This is particularly important in order to be able to survive in tough competition with local competitors who react quickly to market changes. The trend in the auto industry has long since changed from “from Germany for the world” to “local for local”. This strategy requires completely new thinking, which Volkswagen has anchored in its corporate structure.
A comprehensive research and development center
The Volkswagen China Technology Center (VCTC) in Hefei is the Volkswagen Group's largest research and development center outside of Germany and has now successfully completed its latest test workshops Volkswagen Group announced. In addition to vehicle tests, software and hardware integration as well as tests of batteries and drive trains can be carried out here on around 100,000 square meters. Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen, emphasizes that the conditions for the development of intelligent, connected vehicles are being created here.
Volkswagen's strategic realignment also ensures that faster technology updates are possible. Through local development and the integration of central development units, adjustments can be made much faster and more efficiently. This efficiency is also supported by a new development process model that can reduce costs in certain key projects by up to 50 percent.
The challenges of the Chinese automotive industry
However, the sales markets are overheated and production capacities of around 50 million vehicles are offset by demand of around 30 million. There is a backlog of unsold cars, leading to a bitter price war with manufacturers striking to retain market share. The pressure on the industry is therefore enormous, and manufacturers supported by government subsidies such as BYD are under particular scrutiny when it comes to the sustainability of their business models.