FAW-VW's Foshan factory to begin operation in August

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 18) - FAW Volkswagen's new production site in Foshan, Guangdong is scheduled to begin operation this August, the Nanfang Daily reported earlier this week. The site will boast an initial annual production capacity of 360,000 vehicles.

The Foshan site (pictured) is set to be one of the country's most comprehensive factories, containing stamping, welding, painting and general assembly facilities, as well as independent quality control, IT and logistics systems. The site also boasts state of the art equipment, with 18 robots in place on each of the stamping facility's three production lines. The welding facility will possess over 840 robots. 80 percent of the work in the stamping facility will be entirely automated, while 70 percent of the welding facility's operations will be automated. The site is not only technologically advanced, but will be very environmentally friendly. The factories' lights are entirely solar powered.

According to the manufacturer, the factory is designed to produce 60 vehicles an hour. The site will be able to produce a variety of VW and Audi models simultaneously. Its first model is expected to be the seventh-generation Golf, followed by hatchback and sedan version of the Audi A3. There are no plans to produce of the Audi A1 at the site as of yet.