ID. only for electric Volkswagen Group advances electrification strategy

Easy car original Volkswagen brand to the electrification transition more and more determined, in the Shanghai auto show, ID. family's newest member of the pure electric flagship sedan ID.7 has also completed the global debut, as a traditional car companies, the Volkswagen brand has always been actively to complete the transition to the electrification to the electric intelligent low-carbon pace continues to stride forward, and has been launched in succession ID.4, ID.6, ID.3 and other pure electric models, and now continues to continue to grow the pure electric product lineup, and the ID.family based on the MEB platform, which is the key to Volkswagen's transition to a new era.

With the ACCELERATE strategy of Volkswagen brand being pushed forward globally, the ID. family, which is born to be electric, has become the label of Volkswagen Group in the new era. As the first pure electric sedan of ID.7, ID.7 is equipped with augmented reality head-up display system and a number of intelligent technologies as standard in terms of hardware, while FAW-Volkswagen ID.7 VIZZION will be listed in the second half of this year. As you can see, the future market focus of the ID.family is quietly shifting to the Chinese market.

The reason behind it, Volkswagen knows, not only is the Volkswagen brand products in the Chinese market is quite popular, but also because China's new energy market has been in the global new energy automobile market for many years, occupying an absolute share of the huge market scale is naturally the attention of various car companies. And the Volkswagen Group launched the ID. family of products matrix, in the face of the big market environment, only to do and once the Volkswagen fuel car as comprehensive, more comprehensive coverage of the market, in order to provide enough competitiveness for the Volkswagen Group in the new track.

At the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show press conference, Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Sch?fer, Volkswagen Passenger Cars China CEO Stefan Mecha, and Volkswagen Passenger Cars head of technology development Kai Grünitz, all appeared at the venue. They were interviewed by the media.

In 2022, China's new energy vehicle market will produce and sell 7,058,000 and 6,887,000 vehicles, up 96.9 percent and 93.4 percent year-on-year, according to data. According to the CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Vehicle Brand, Mr. Schwentau expects that the proportion of new energy vehicles in China's automobile market will reach about 35% in 2023, with deliveries amounting to 7.9 million units. Volkswagen's goal in China's new-energy sector is to further increase its market share from 3.3 percent in 2022.

Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand CEO Thomas Sch?fer

For the megatrend of the new era, Mr. Thomas Sch?fer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand, said that Volkswagen Group will be based on the ACCELERATE strategy, and that we are accelerating our transition to Electric mobility transition, intelligent and automatic driving has been very sure-footed, we see the huge potential and energy in China. At the same time, in China, every car company, every person interested in cars are talking about automatic driving, automatic driving will certainly become the mainstream of the future.

In the Chinese market, Volkswagen has already cooperated with many software companies, and we have our own software company CARIAD, with more than 2,000 engineers, we will customize our services according to the local environment of China's market, the demand and preference for software, in terms of safety, convenience, and the need to get a good combination of automated driving, and the Volkswagen brand The Volkswagen brand will provide perfect products for Chinese consumers.

In 2022, Volkswagen completed the acquisition of shares in Chinese chip + algorithm company Horizon, and at the same time, CARIAD China, and Horizon to establish a joint venture to strengthen "in China, for China" R & D capabilities, to provide Chinese consumers with customized products and services in a faster and more sustainable manner. In addition to the continuous enrichment of ID. In addition to enriching the product matrix of the ID. family, the Volkswagen brand's development of software is also part of its strategy to promote electrification in China.

Stefan Mecha, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand China

Volkswagen's global deliveries of purely electric vehicles will be approximately 330,000 in 2022, a 23.6 percent increase year-on-year, making it the highest-selling pure electric vehicle in Europe. making it the highest-selling pure EV brand in Europe. Among them, Volkswagen's pure-electric family, the ID. series, was a standout: 170,000 units of the ID.4, 77,000 of the ID.3, 23,000 of the ID.5, and 37,000 of the ID.6 were sold.

For the Volkswagen Group's intelligent direction, Stefan Mecha, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in China, added that what the Volkswagen Group is predicting at the moment is that there will be two trends in the future, firstly, both smart cockpit and self-driving technology have become mainstream technologies and have been loaded on a lot of models; and secondly, a lot of companies are upgrading L2, Secondly, many companies are upgrading L2, L3 and even L4 autonomous driving. As Mr. Shi Wentao said, it is very important to enhance localized R&D strength, especially to do a good job in the research and development of smart cockpit and autonomous driving technology in a steady manner, and for this reason, Volkswagen has entered into a lot of partnerships to ensure that we will occupy a place in the field of autonomous driving in the future. Considering that the Chinese market has already taken the lead in electrification and intelligence, the Volkswagen Group will also actively make adjustments and adaptations in China to provide Chinese consumers with a more complete new travel experience.

Kai Grünitz, Head of Technology R&D, Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand

For the new all-electric flagship sedan of the ID.family, Kai Grünitz, Head of Technology R&D, Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand, said that the ID.7 lays a solid foundation for the Volkswagen brand's future development in China. The ID.7 lays a solid foundation for the future development of the Volkswagen brand in China. Its premium features are applied to the production model, and the Chinese version of the ID.7 VIZZION will be equipped with the latest full-journey Intelligent Assist Driving System, Travel Assist 3.0, as well as an even more powerful Augmented Reality Head-Up Display.The ID.7 VIZZION will be on sale in the second half of 2023.In addition, with the ID. NEXT Concept, Volkswagen brand showed the ID.7 flagship sedan, to be released in 2024, and the Volkswagen brand's new ID.7 VIZZION will be available in China in the second half of 2024. 2024 with the ID.NEXT Concept, the Volkswagen brand is showing the beginnings of an all-new member of the ID. family that will be released in 2024.

And in the next few years, the launch of the MEB+ platform, or to further expand Volkswagen's product advantages in the field, to achieve a range of up to 700 kilometers, the highest charging power can reach nearly 200 kilowatts, which means that a shorter replenishment of the time, Volkswagen can go farther "road ".

And for the huge volume of the Chinese market, the Volkswagen brand to do a good job of electrification transition, Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand CEO Mr. Shi Wentao, said the Volkswagen brand from the entry into the Chinese market, from the user side of the continuous insight and learning, but also studied the Chinese user's consumption habits, at the same time, for the research and judgement of the market to do product adjustment. Therefore, our team in China has always emphasized the concept of "in China, for China", whether in design, R&D or technology. With shorter development cycles, we are able to quickly adapt and respond to the needs of Chinese users.

For Volkswagen, the Chinese market over the past four decades has brought the brand brilliant achievements, and with the new era, perhaps the traditional giant should embrace 'technology, with the crowd', as the global market, the largest single market for electrification, the Chinese market has long been more than a mere market demand. As the largest electrified single market in the world, the Chinese market has long been more than a mere market demand, but has become the blueprint for Volkswagen's electrification and digital transformation. Listening more y to and understanding the needs of the Chinese market is the only way to let Volkswagen's brand continue to be brilliant under the Blue Era.

The following is an excerpt from the interview

Q1: The Volkswagen ID. family has a good sales performance in China, but it is still a bit far away from China's own brands and other new forcesin the Chinese market. rivals still have a certain gap, may I ask Volkswagen will grab this market share in what ways? ? ?

Meng Man: First of all, since the launch of the ID.family in 2019, it has received a very good response in the market, and Volkswagen has gradually pushed forward the promotion and strategy of the product, and the sales of the ID.family have doubled last year, which is very encouraging for us.

In the new energy vehicle market, there are both pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and vehicles of other technology routes. Plug-in hybrid is a relatively fast-growing market at present, with an annual growth rate of about 80% or more. In the field of pure electric technology, many companies are also catching up and developing very quickly. Our plug-in hybrid concept will focus on performance, which will be the strength of our product.

At the same time, the ID. series is so popular in the market that we cannot join the competition in all segments, and we have to grasp the big picture and continue to amplify our strengths. The current sales performance is satisfactory and gives us confidence.

Q2: ID.7's software achieves a very noticeable progression, how did Volkswagen do it?

Schwentauer: We do continuous insight and learning from the user side, as well as making product adjustments in response to market research. We learn quickly, and at the same time conduct research on the Chinese market, and also study the consumption habits of Chinese users, including the unique preferences of Chinese users as compared to those in the United States and Europe.

Thus, the Volkswagen team in China has always emphasized the concept of "in China, for China", whether it is design, R&D or technology. With shorter development cycles, we are able to quickly adapt and respond to the needs of Chinese customers.

Q3:The electrification and intelligence of carsnowhasbecome an inevitable trend in the industry. Autonomous drivingwill alsobecome the mainstream of the world in 2030, and this is a game that all car companiesneed to get involved in as early as possible,. How is the Volkswagen brand developing its future strategyforautonomous driving?

Schwentauer: This trend is very obvious, especially in China, where every car company and everyone interested in cars is talking about autonomous driving, which is sure to become mainstream in the future. From a global level, we are excited and encouraged by the current situation, and we must accelerate the layout.

In China, Volkswagen is cooperating with many software companies, and we have our own software company, CARIAD, with more than 2,000 engineers. The market environment in China is very different from that of the United States and Europe, and the needs and preferences for software are also very different. In the future, autonomous driving needs to be well integrated in terms of safety and convenience. Therefore, we continue to invest in this area, which is very valuable and wise.

Meng Man: I would like to add that we are seeing two trends: first, both smart cockpit and autonomous driving technologies have become mainstream technologies, and have been loaded on many car models; second, many companies are upgrading to L2, L3, and even L4 levels of automated driving, and, as Mr. Shi said, it is very important to upgrade localized R&D strengths, especially to stabilize the development of automated driving systems. As Mr. Schwentau said, it is very important to improve localized R&D strength, especially to do a good job in the research and development of intelligent cockpit and autonomous driving technology in a steady manner, and for this reason Volkswagen has entered into a lot of partnerships to make sure that we occupy a place in the field of autonomous driving in the future.

As Mr. Schwentau said earlier, we have to do a good job of adjusting and adapting in China, because the needs in China are very different from other places, so we have to prioritize.

Q4:There is a more pronounced wave of price reductions in the Chinese market,electric vehicles and fuel cars have been affected, how does Volkswagen judge the situation in the future? In the future, what kind of balance or trade-offs will be made in the fuel car and electric car business?

Meng Man: For us, the most important thing is to understand the reasons for the price war, we have three conclusions. First, at the end of 2022, the new energy vehicle subsidies are coming to an end, so at the end of the year in addition to the first purchase of the peak, the early overdraft of the share of 2023. Second, at the end of July this year, the new emission standards began to be implemented, and the clearance of old standard fuel vehicles also had an impact on prices. Third, compared with last year, the first quarter of the overall market sales fell 12.5%, the overall market environment on the car companies formed a pressure.

For Volkswagen, we will not engage in a price war. Although the Chinese market is highly competitive, there are great opportunities and potential for development in both fuel and new energy vehicles. The overall market stock will reach 80 million by 2030, so the pressure in the first quarter is not representative of where the market is going.

At the joint venture level, we have a lot of marketing activities to ensure that both sides **** win and remain well competitive. The Chinese market is very competitive, but the potential for future development is unlimited, not only for fuel and smart internet vehicles now, but in the future we continue to see it as a huge potential, and the conditions of the market will get better and better.

Q5: At Auto Shanghai, there are a lot of new brands and models unveiled in China, so please talk about your feelings about China's automotive industry and make some comments. Also, are there any Chinese brands that in your opinion have now become or have the potential to become our key competitors in the future? ?

Schwantau: The speed of development and the enterprising spirit of China's automobile market is very inspiring, and the Chinese brands are catching up very fast in all aspects. I've test-driven a lot of competing models and there are a lot of competitors who are doing particularly well in a certain area. We will not copy or follow other brands, but rather find the values that suit our brand and develop them in a way that is in line with the emotions and the brand's DNA.

Our programs for China, such as the User Council, are also sure to bring some new developments.