There is no speeding in the fast lane"Our cooperation with Xpeng Motors has entered the fast lane! ......This is the Chinese speed that I greatly admire! ”…
On February 29, Volkswagen Group (China) Chairman and CEO Braid Braid tweeted this Weibo tweet, and the joy was overflowing.
Barred has a reason to celebrate. Earlier in the day, the Volkswagen Group announced that it had signed a technical cooperation agreement with Xpeng Motors for the joint development of platforms and software, and the strategic cooperation between the two parties has finally advanced to the product level. According to the agreement, the first model of the partnership will be an all-electric midsize SUV, which is scheduled to be launched in 2026.
In just eight months, the Volkswagen Group has advanced the cooperation with Xpeng Motors from strategic signing to product implementation. This may not be enough to keep up with some of the new local brands, but for such an established German manufacturer, it is already impressive – especially when compared to the pace of electrification and software architecture development in Germany. "Speed is of the essence". When talking about how to build a leading edge in China's electric vehicle market, Breed said.
Volkswagen has carried out an extensive and intensive deployment of troops around the cooperation project with Xpeng in the past nearly a year, and new progress has been released almost every month. From organizational construction to personnel arrangement, Volkswagen has promoted the implementation of the project with a representative German thinking, and also made people see Volkswagen's strong will to take root in China and rely on local partners to fully develop the electric vehicle market. "Through our partnership with Xpeng, we will shorten the product development cycle, improve efficiency, and optimize our cost structure. In a highly sensitive market environment, this will greatly enhance the economic competitiveness of products. Barred said. In order to advance the cooperation with Xpeng more quickly, Volkswagen China has obtained unprecedented access from the German headquarters. According to Volkswagen's plan, Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. (VCTC) in Hefei is the docking hub for this cooperation. VCTC, which was founded last year, has extremely high authority and has obtained the decision-making power of China's local R&D from the German headquarters, so much so that it is called "Little Wolf Castle" by industry insiders. VCTC has proven its efficiency to the German headquarters. By conducting EV development testing with the E-4 Poster's system, VCTC can shorten the test cycle for EVs in specific areas from three months to one month.
The Volkswagen Group is also interested in VCTC. On April 1 this year, VCTC CEO Borui Wu will take office. In his current role in the "New Mobility" division of the Volkswagen brand, he has built and tested the software development process for electric vehicles based on the MEB platform, which he is on track to roll out to the MQBEVO platform. Prior to that, Wu Borui also had two resumes that were very closely related to the Chinese market: he was responsible for FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen respectively in charge of logistics, R&D and other businesses. It can be said that in order for VCTC to continue to run at the forefront of the Volkswagen Group's global transformation at such a speed, Wu Borui, who is also familiar with the "speed of China", will play a more important role.
It's not just the cooperation with VCTC and Xpeng that has entered the "fast lane". After intensive layout and adjustment in recent years, Volkswagen's intelligent and electrified transformation in China is gradually accelerating.
Just one day before the official announcement of the agreement, CARIAD China, a software technology company owned by Volkswagen, also ushered in a new leader. Han Sanchu, who was "parachuted" from Changan Automobile, will succeed Chang Qing sent by the German headquarters as CEO of CARIAD China. The handover of the two also represents a transition in the development stage of CARIAD in China.
This role shift is summed up brilliantly: Evergreen will be building CARIAD China and forging local partnerships, while Han Sanchu will leverage his technical expertise and insight into local customer needs to integrate innovative digital technology products.
The pursuit of speed is more straightforward in the official press release of Han Sanchu's new appointment: "Focus on the rapid integration of cutting-edge technologies into the models of the group's brands for the Chinese market." ”
Of course, even the "fast" Volkswagen still does not "overdrive". Therefore, people will see that Volkswagen, which is on the "fast lane" in China, is still unwilling to overstep the pace of product launch - the high-profile "Dapeng" Volkswagen brand pure electric mid-size SUV will not be launched until 2026.
It's massive. Text: Yang Zheng.