Volkswagen said it was looking for a second battery supplier in China to pre-market 200 billion batteries.

"Yes, we are doing this(looking for a new battery partner) and it seems that at least one new partner is needed." On April 24, Haiziman, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group(China), confirmed to the Economic Watch Network that Volkswagen is looking for a second battery partner in China.

Haiziman said: "Volkswagen's first battery order has been given to the Ningde era, but in the future, once the electric vehicles are officially mass-produced in China, the scale will be large. Therefore, at least find a new battery supplier to cooperate in the country. " As for the battery gap, it is necessary to wait until the large-scale production of electric vehicles can be accurately assessed.

Before Heizman confirmed the matter, the chairman of the Volkswagen Group Management Board and CEO of Volkswagen Group, Diss, also mentioned in an interview with the Chinese media for the first time that Volkswagen is currently looking for solutions for possible shortage of battery production. . “On the battery side, the biggest challenge may be the need to reach a challenge of sufficient scale. In today's (April 24) morning business discussion, we have discussed different options for solving this problem, and there may be more cooperation. Partner.” Diss said that this challenge exists not only in China, but also in the global market.

As for the development of battery technology, he said: "At present, there is a very strong team in our own R&D team that focuses on the study of batteries, including battery chemistry. At the same time, we are working with Chinese suppliers around the next generation of batteries. "

Since the end of 2017, Volkswagen has launched a bidding for battery purchases for the global market, with a bid of 50 billion EUR. At the annual meeting of the Volkswagen Group on March 13, 2018, the then CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Mullen, said that the Volkswagen Group has reached a cooperation price of 20 billion EUR in the two major markets of Europe and China.

According to Haiziman, Volkswagen's first battery partner in China was the Ningde era, and the first orders were for electric car products to be localized in China. However, it is understood that VW's collaboration with Ningde is not "exclusive", which also portends that VW will look for more battery suppliers in China to mitigate the risk of all orders coming from the same supplier.

In the last month, VW has not announced a global purchase agreement with any battery plant, which means more than half of the $50 billion in big purchases remain vacant. The order amounted to more than 200 billion yuan. At present, the Chinese company is trying to enter the procurement system by setting up factories in Europe. According to European media reports, Tianjin lishen has provided products to the public for testing.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017, Volkswagen Group proposed the "RoadmapE" comprehensive electric strategy. The goal is that by 2025, Volkswagen will produce 3 million electric vehicles per year, and its brands will launch a total of 80 new electric models. Including 50 pure electric models and 30 plug-in hybrid models. At the latest by 2030, Volkswagen Group's 300 remaining models will launch at least one electric version. That means meeting the group's annual fleet of electric vehicles by 2025 will require more than 150 gigawatts of battery capacity, equivalent to the annual output of at least four super-battery plants.

As for China, the goal of the Volkswagen group RoadmapE is to launch 40 domestic new energy vehicles in China over the next seven to eight years. According to the plan, in 2018, in addition to the existing 8 pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle lineup, Volkswagen will also launch 9 new models including 3 pure electric vehicles. With Jianghuai mass products about to land first, how to ensure the stability of localized battery supply has become the most important industrial chain guarantee. "By 2021, we will have started local production of electric cars in at least six factories in China," Mr. Diss said at a mass media conference on April 25.

Volkswagen's new energy vehicles in China are about to be supplied in bulk. On April 24, the new energy car joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Jianghuai Automobile Group launched a brand new brand, Sihao, and the brand's first A0 SUV electric vehicle. The car is expected to go on sale in September and has already received its first big order of thousands.

According to the brand positioning of Sihao's focus on economic new energy models, the control of battery costs will be a very important part. Haiziman has previously said that VW's goal for new energy vehicles is to achieve a slight profit, and stressed that any electric car should be profitable. "We and Jianghuai have talked about profitability, and it is certain to be profitable," and Haiziman said that on the question of whether the first natural year after the product goes public in 2019, it will wait until the product is actually listed. "But I am optimistic. " said Haiziman, laughing.

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