1. NEVs to account for over 20% of car sales in 2025
New energy vehicles will make up at least 20 percent of new cars sales in China in 2025, as the burgeoning sector continues to gather speed in the world's largest vehicle market, said a senior official at the country's leading auto industry association.
Fu Bingfeng, executive vice-president and secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, estimates that sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids will grow at over 40 percent year-on-year in the next five years.
"In five to eight years, a vast number of gasoline cars that cannot meet China's emissions standards will be phased out and around 200 million new cars will be bought to replace them. This creates huge opportunities for the new energy vehicle sector," said Fu at the China Auto Forum held in Shanghai from June 17 to 19.
In the first five months this year, combined sales of new energy vehicles totaled 950,000 units in the country, rising 220 percent from the same period last year, because of a lower comparative base in the COVID-hit 2020.
Statistics from the association show that electric cars and plug-in hybrids accounted for 8.7 percent of new car sales in China from January to May. The figure was 5.4 percent by the end of 2020.
Fu said there were 5.8 million such vehicles on Chinese streets by the end of May, roughly half of the global total. The association is considering scaling up its estimated NEVs sales to 2 million this year, up from its previous estimate of 1.8 million units.
Guo Shouxin, an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said China's auto industry is expected to see faster development during the 14th Five-year Plan (2021-25) period.
"The trend of the Chinese auto industry's positive development in the long run will not change, and our determination to develop smart electric cars will not change either," Guo said.
Carmakers are speeding up their efforts to shift towards electrification. Wang Jun, president of Changan Auto, said the Chongqing-based carmaker will roll out 26 electric cars in five years.
2. Jetta marks 30 years of success in China
Jetta is celebrating its 30th anniversary in China this year. After being the first Volkswagen model to be spun off into its own brand in 2019, the marque is embarking on a new journey to appeal to the tastes of China's young drivers.
Starting in China in 1991, the Jetta was produced by a joint venture between FAW and Volkswagen and quickly became a popular, affordable small car in the market. Manufacturing was expanded from FAW-Volkswagen's plant in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province, in 2007 to Chengdu in western China's Sichuan province.
Over its three decades in the Chinese market, the Jetta has become synonymous with reliability and is popular among taxi drivers who know the car won't let them down.
"Since the first day of the Jetta brand, starting from entry-level models, Jetta is devoted to creating affordable, high-quality cars for emerging markets and meets the needs of consumers with its brand-new designs and outstanding product values at affordable prices," said Gabriel Gonzalez, senior manager of production at the Jetta factory in Chengdu.
Despite being its own brand, Jetta remains distinctly German and is built on Volkswagen's MQB platform and fitted with VW equipment. The advantage of the new brand, however, is that it can target China's massive first-time buyer market. Its current range of a sedan and two SUVs are competitively priced for their respective segments.
Post time: Jun-17-2021