Volkswagen Will Build Two Factories in China To Beat Tesla
Volkswagen, a German automaker, announced on May 14 that it is building two plants in China to produce a total of 600,000 vehicles running on MEB, its modular car platform for electric vehicles.
The two factories, one in Shanghai and one in Guangdong, will start operating once the facility in Zwickau, Germany opens up.
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The Zwickau factory is going through an upgrade into one for purely electric cars. 16 Volkswagen factories across the world will transform like Zwickau, as Volkswagen said.
If the plan goes well, Volkswagen’s capacity will likely surpass Tesla.
Such transformation is a natural response to the growing electric vehicle trend initiated by Tesla. Model 3 by Tesla quickly became the most popular electric car when it entered the European market in February.
Volkswagen introduced its ID series in May and is currently accepting orders in Europe. The cars are expected to go on sale in 2020 in the region.
The company stated last year that it would invest 30 billion euros in electric cars within the next five years in order to challenge Tesla.
Featured photo credit to Reuters/Fabian Bimmer
