German car-maker Volkswagen’s China joint venture FAW-Volkswagen planned to make about 171,000 cars this year, including 92,000 Jetta sedans, 29,500 luxury Audi A6s and 50,000 mid-sized Boras. It intends to increase annual output to up to 500,000 cars over the next three years, China Daily quoted president Qin Huanming as saying.
FAW-Volkswagen said it had no short-term plans to follow other carmakers in China and cut prices. But the company admitted that China’s WTO entry in December would cause domestic auto prices to fall in the next few years, including cars made by Volkswagen. Volkswagen’s other Chinese venture, Shanghai Volkswagen, recently introduced temporary discounts on its vehicles, and Shanghai General Motors cut the price of its Buick Sail family cars by 4-8 per cent in January.