Volkswagen's Chinese joint venture, Shanghai VW, was celebrating the 25th anniversary yesterday and, together with this important milestone, the company also announced that it rolled out the 5 millionth model produced in China.
Shanghai Volkswagen was established in 1984 and since then, the company gradually increased its local shares. The company passed the one million vehicle milestone in 1998 while in June 2002, it officially rolled out the two millionth car. Three years later, it achieved three million cars while in January 2008, it announced the production of the four millionth model.
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"The Group is investing a total of four billion euros in new products and production capacity expansion between 2009 and 2011 in order to extend Volkswagen's market leadership in China further. Shanghai Volkswagen has delivered an outstanding performance in 25 years. Today the joint venture has the largest and most modern car manufacturing capabilities in China. Our growth course in this market plays an important role in achieving the ambitious targets of the Volkswagen Group as it heads towards becoming the world's number one automaker," Dr. Horst Neumann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG for Human Resources, said.
"Established in October 1984, Shanghai Volkswagen was one of the first joint ventures to be set up as China opened its economy. Volkswagen's commitment was a far-sighted decision. As an attractive international employer, Volkswagen also focuses on fostering the competences of its employees in China."
Shanghai Volkswagen has its headquarters in Anting International Auto City and currently owns four vehicle production plants, one engine plant, a technology center and a design center. It produces eleven models from the Volkswagen brand (Polo Jinqing, Polo Jinqu, Cross Polo, Lavida, Santana, Santana Vista, Passat New Lingyu and Touran) and Škoda brand (Fabia, Octavia und Superb).
