German, Chinese carmakers strengthen ties to develops EVs

At the recent Germany-China Summit held in Berlin, 2 German brands seal their tie-up with local Chinese carmakers – the Volkswagen Group and Daimler. The agreements between them and their Chinese counterparts are aimed to produce hybrid and pure electric vehicles—also known as New Energy Vehicles (NEV)—in China.

The Volkswagen Group, which announced their partnership with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC) last year, finally put the joint venture on paper. Both brands agree to hold 50% stake at the new company. Aside from electric vehicles, they are also to develop, produce, and market mobility services for the People’s Republic. This is all part of the German marque’s plan, as laid out in the TRANSFORM 2025+ – the company’s goals and vision until the mentioned year and beyond.

Volkswagen’s partnership with JAC isn’t new, as they’ve already forged partnership with other 2 Chinese automakers FAW and SAIC. Their history of partnership with China dates to 1984, delivering up to 30 million vehicles since then. With that, they are aiming to produce their first jointly developed NEV by 2018, while pushing the goal to deliver 400,000 by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2025.

Meanwhile, Daimler, which is the maker of Mercedes-Benz, also strengthened their partnership with another carmaker, BAIC Motor Corporation. This is according to a report by Reuters via dealstreetasia.com.

The 2 companies agreed on upgrading the production facilities at Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC) so it can produce NEVs as well.

Daimler’s Board Member in charge of China Hubertus Troska claimed that China is already the world’s largest market for NEVs. Instinctively, the move to strengthen the partnership is to contribute to the development of green cars in the said country.

With these recent developments in the neighboring country, we can’t help but wonder when will this reach the local shores. Currently, there are only a few brands that have hybrid and pure electric cars, namely: BYD, Toyota, Lexus, and Honda.