CEO of Volkswagen China: openness and competition drives innovation and future

The opening up policy is the basis for Volkswagen’s success in China. In the meantime, as Prof. Heizmann put it, “Volkswagen has really helped in these decades to support and develop the Chinese automotive industry, and this is still our intention these days and in the coming years.”

Since its founding, SAIC Volkswagen has been in line with Volkswagen’s production standards. In 1984, although the joint venture project had been realized, China, in desperate need of foreign exchange, met real difficulties: almost all parts of the Santana sedan had to be outsourced. Therefore, it was high time for the localization of Santana. However, as Germans are famously strict regarding product quality, all the components made in China required German certification.

Taking the challenge, SAIC Volkswagen managed to make Santana on its own. In 1990, the localization rate of Santana exceeded 60%, and starting in 1996, the rate has been above 90%. Nowadays, SAIC Volkswagen is one of China’s largest modern sedan production bases.

(On December 21-25, 1987, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government convened a meeting on Santana’s localization. Photo provided by SAIC Volkswagen)