BERLIN/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Volkswagen is investing around 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) in a new development and procurement centre for electric vehicles in Hefei, China, the company said on Tuesday, in a bid to better adapt its cars to Chinese customers’ tastes.
The aim of the centre, dubbed “100%TechCo”, will be to reduce development times for new products and technologies by around 30%, involving suppliers at the early stages of product development to accelerate the time to market.
The unit, employing over 2,000 people, will launch in 2024, led by Volkswagen’s chief technology officer in China, Marcus Hafkemeyer.
($1 = 0.9116 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Zhang Yan; Editing by Miranda Murray)