The auto giant’s boss, Ralf Brandstätter, told reporters that a new platform for entry-level electric cars is in development. The target is a “battery” car with a starting price of 140 thousand yuan (19.6 thousand dollars). The family of budget electric cars will consist of four models; they will be assembled by the Chinese factories FAW-VW and SAIC-VW.
The Volkswagen boss admitted that China is “very price sensitive,” and the German group had to optimize costs. To reduce the cost of electric vehicles on the new A Main Platform architecture, developers had to switch to Chinese components. For example, purchasing virtual dashboard screens from a local supplier reduced costs by 37 percent.
The basis of the new platform will be the familiar MEB trolley of the 2019 model. The first electric vehicle based on the A Main Platform architecture should be ready in 2026. The starting price of 140 thousand yuan (less than 20 thousand dollars) is very competitive: in other markets, the same Volkswagen considers models with a starting price of 35 thousand dollars to be “cheap electric cars”.
In 2022, Volkswagen lost its absolute leadership in China to local automaker BYD. Sales of electric cars of the ID line were lower than expected: the local bestseller ID.3 took only 22nd place in the domestic market of China, and only after a significant price reduction did monthly sales reach 10 thousand units.
Not only Rapid and Polo: budget models of the Volkswagen group are not for us
