| SVW to develop new model for Chinese, US markets |
SHANGHAI, July 19 -- VOLKSWAGEN AG and its Chinese joint venture yesterday announced a joint development of a new car aimed at both the North American and the Chinese markets.
It will be the first time Shanghai Volkswagen Co Ltd will help its parent company develop a model intended for overseas markets.
The car will be in the mid to high class range and will be the successor to the Passat Lingyu, SVW said in Shanghai yesterday.
After improving R&D capability on models like Passat Lingyu and Polo in China, SVW will develop the new vehicle body, including major elements of the exterior and interior of the car.
"SVW's research and development will be integrated step by step in the worldwide development network of Volkswagen," the company said.
Zeng Zhiling, a senior automotive analyst from Global Insight, a US-based auto consulting firm in Shanghai, added: "Volkswagen is helping SVW to enhance its R&D capability through the cooperation."
"As a reward, the German car maker will also gain low-cost R&D support for rolling out new models on the most competitive US market," Zeng told The Shanghai Daily.
R&D capabilities are growing in importance for foreign car makers who want to boost sales in the world's second largest auto market by meeting local demands.
SVW, a joint venture of Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, is one of China's earliest car makers starting in 1984 and producing the Santana series and Passat sedans, Polo compact cars, Touran multi purpose vehicles (under the VW brand) as well as Skoda-branded models like Octavia.
The company has spent 3 billion yuan (US$396.5 million) building an engineering center which includes test facilities, prototype construction and parts and tools' trial manufacturing, to develop core parts like engines and chassis.
The R&D center, which opened in 2000, employs more than 1200 engineers and has been involved in the revamp of the Santana, Passat and Polo models for domestic market since 2002.
Volkswagen also has another joint venture with First Automotive Group in Changchun, Jilin Province.
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