Shanghai September 30 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Volkswagen, a tie-up between Chinese carmaker SAIC Group and German auto giant Volkswagen AG, has officially started its luxury car project under which the company will launch a C-Class sedan bearing the VW badge in China in the next three years, 163.com reported Thursday.
The company has already sent a project team made up of engineers and marketing specialists to Wolfsburg, Germany. All team members will be responsible for the preliminary work on development of the C-Class sedan with which Shanghai VW will fill the gap in its high-end product line-up, an insider revealed.
SAIC Chairman Hu Maoyuan once said Shanghai VW would introduce more SUVs to the domestic market, adding that these products will be positioned higher than FAW-VW's. Now came again those words: "This luxury sedan will become Shanghai VW's C-Class flagship."
The C-Class sedan will go on sale in China first and then be sold in North America, Mexico, Africa and other countries. The European market is likely to be targeted as well, after all, VW has no any C-Class cars there.
With the A-Class hatchback market getting mature, Shanghai VW plans to put on the market a Lavida hatchback in the next two years.
Shanghai VW currently has two brands covering the MPV, SUV and sedan market, as well as nearly ten mass market models, covering the A0-Clss, A-Class, B-Class, etc..
