German carmaker Volkswagen will build two new vehicle plants in China as it invests two billion euros ($2.7 billion) along with its partner, it announced Monday during a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel
Looking to the future, production volumes at the main plant in Wolfsburg are to rise to around one million. Higher productivity will enable higher capacity utilization.
The groundwork is being laid in Wolfsburg in order to bundle Golf production at one location as set out in the Pact for the Future. Coinciding with the launch of the Golf 8, Golf production in Zwickau and Puebla is to be relocated to the main plant.
The new SEAT Tarraco will also begin rolling off the assembly line in Wolfsburg soon.
Dr. Andreas Tostmann, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Brand responsible for Production and Logistics, commented: “We are planning to increase productivity by 25 percent at all German factories by 2020 as agreed. Further efforts are needed at Volkswagen in future to remain competitive, particularly post-2020”.
The Volkswagen brand’s Production department has defined a new production strategy to further improve production efficiency.
This strategy comprises eight action areas that are now being underpinned by measures designed to continue concentrating on significantly reducing the complexity of production structures as well as on standardization throughout the global production network.
A further focus of these activities is the creation of harmonized structures at all Volkswagen factories based on comparable KPIs. Across the board, attention is to centre above all on a significantly more pronounced production and process orientation without jeopardizing Volkswagen’s superior product substance.
“A competent, globally leading production network is one of the biggest levers for value enhancement in the Volkswagen Group”, Dr. Andreas Tostmann said. “The Volkswagen brand has made substantial progress in recent years. We are on the right track. In an industry comparison we are mid-range, we intend to catch up and become one of the best.”
The Volkswagen brand will announce the cornerstones of its new “Transform.Together” production strategy at the end of September and present details of the planned measures and action areas.
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