Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 18) - Volkswagen will invest 9.8 billion euros ($12.82b) in developing its operations in the Chinese market over the next three years, Beijing News reported today. The manufacturer announced the news at its press conference for the 2012 fiscal year held in its home city of Wolfsburg.
Part of the investments will be used to construct a new automobile factory, which is hinted to be situated in Hunan's capital of Changsha. Construction work on the new factory is expected to begin within the next two years. The funds will also be used to further R&D and marketing work for new energy vehicles. By 2018 the manufacturer anticipates its annual production capacity in China to reach four million units.
At the conference, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn announced that the manufacturer is preparing to release a so-called 'budget car.' The car, which is currently still in the research and development phase, will be priced between 6,000 euros and 7,000 euros ($7,846.32-$9,154.04) and targeted at emerging markets such as China, Brazil and India. Dr. Winterkorn's statement echoes a similar one made not long ago by FAW-VW General Manager Hu Yong, which seems to hint that the new car will make its debut in China.
VW reported earning 192.7 billion euros ($251.99b) of gross income and 11.5 billion euros ($15.04b) of net profit from its over 9.3 million automobile sales worldwide sales last year. 2.81 million of those sales were made in China, representing year-on-year growth of 25 percent.
