Asia Times

China

Shanghai VW comes of age

SHANGHAI - Shanghai Volkswagen Corporation has just announced that it is now a full fledged automaker, after 18 years of operation and the production of 2 million cars.

"The two million cars we have produced have put an end to our growing pains and are a prelude to the further development of our company and China's auto industry," said general manager Nan Yang at the rollout ceremony of a Passat 2.8 V6, the company's 2 millionth car, on June 28.

Shanghai Volkswagen is the first domestic automaker to reach that record. When its first Santana rolled out in the early 1980s, China had barely any expertise in the auto parts industry. Shanghai Volkswagen has experienced all its growing pains over the past years and has set up the country's largest auto logistic network and an integrated parts system that has benefited nearly all automakers in China.

The company, which once relied solely on technology imports and joint development with foreign automakers, now uses state-of-the-art technologies and is able to promote the most updated version of sedans to users worldwide.

Over the years the company's registered capital has soared from 160 million yuan (US$19 million) to the present 6.3 billion yuan (US$760 million). Having made over 230 billion yuan (27.7 billion yuan) in sedan sales, the company is now China's biggest manufacturer of sedan cars. It has taken the lion's share of the domestic sedan market with new version sedan cars including the basic Santana, Santana 2000, Passat and Polo, and has made continued technological innovations to meet users' requirements.

(XIC)

Jul 2, 2002

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