Volkswagen has offered temporary discounts in China, the world’s top auto market, where a cut-throat pricing war is raging, board member Ralf Brandstaetter said, adding this was due to savings efforts that could be passed on to customers, reports Reuters. Brandstaetter, who is in charge of Volkswagen’s China business, said Europe’s largest carmaker had launched a comprehensive cost-cutting programme for its modular electric architecture MEB last year.
“The first results are now materialising. We have passed these benefits directly on to our customers, for example with regard to the ID.3,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the IAA car show in Munich. “With these consistent efforts, we have significantly strengthened competitiveness.”
Brandstaetter declined to quantify the discounts in China, but he made clear that these had been only temporary.