Volkswagen to expand ‘mega-factory’ in China to build more electric vehicles

The Foshan Plant, which is already a giant factory producing around 300,000 vehicles per year for the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture, is going to get a second phase expansion that will see a doubling of the factory’s capacity.

Volkswagen says that the new capacity will be used to accelerate the automaker’s electric vehicle effort.

Due to China’s increasing interest in SUVs, the joint-venture plan also plans to use the capacity for new SUV production.

But it will also include the new MEB architecture which will power VW’s next generation of all-electric vehicles:

“Moreover, among the new FAW-Volkswagen factories in Qingdao and Tianjin, Foshan will play a key part in Roadmap E. Vehicles currently produced on the MQB platform will soon be electrified. By 2020, the MEB architecture will be introduced to the production line, alongside the production of MEB battery systems, which will also be located in Foshan. The newest electric models with the latest technologies of Volkswagen and Audi will be produced at the Foshan Plant.”

Regulations in China are pushing many foreign automakers to make significant investments in electric vehicle production in the country.

The Volkswagen group is among them through several different joint-venture efforts.

Last year, they also announced plans to build 100,000 all-electric vehicles per year in China through a new joint-venture with JAC.

Now, they are going to add electric production capacity with their FAW joint-venture at the Foshan ‘mega-factory’.

Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft as well as President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said about the project:

“Through this mega-factory at the South China base of FAW-Volkswagen, we are fulfilling our promise to electrify China. Foshan is an important milestone on the way to becoming a people-centric provider of sustainable mobility.”

The group has secured electric vehicle battery contracts valued at up to $48 billion in order to support the production of all those vehicles.

They see the demand for EVs in China, and also Europe, help them beat their goal to produce 1 million EVs per year by 2025.