(24 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing - 24 April 2024
1. Various of Volkswagen event showcasing new cars and motorcycle
STORYLINE:
German automaker Volkswagen held a press preview event on Wednesday ahead of the Beijing Auto Show.
The Volkswagen Group, which also includes Audi and Porsche, plans to launch 40 new models in China over the next three years and to have a lineup of 30 EVs by 2030 in what Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume told investors Wednesday is the company’s “second home market.”
Foreign automakers have been caught flat-footed in China by an electric vehicle boom that has shaken up the market, the world's largest, over the last three years.
Taking a page from Tesla, China's automakers and hundreds of start-ups have developed EVs loaded with tablet-like screens, AI-enabled information and entertainment options and autonomous driving capabilities.
EV sales in China, encouraged by green energy subsidies and tax breaks, jumped from 900,000 units in 2020 to 5.1 million last year, accounting for 24% of new car sales, according to the China Passenger Car Association, an industry group. The boom caters to a new breed of car buyers who equate an EV with digital connectivity and are demanding smartphone features in their vehicles.
That has left makers like Volkswagen, which sells about one-third of its cars in China, scrambling to develop new models for a very different market than back home, and expanding far beyond its roots in China as a maker of no-frills sedans used by taxi fleets.
===========================================================
Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: info@aparchive.com.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
