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Beijing (dpa) - With the recovery of the Chinese economy, the Volkswagen Group expects “considerable growth” in its most important market this year.
China boss Stephan Wöllenstein also expects the market share to increase.
"There are good reasons that the Volkswagen Group can develop better than the overall market," said Wöllenstein on Wednesday in Beijing.
Almost every fifth new car (19.3 percent) sold in China today comes from the Volkswagen Group.
Problems are caused by the lack of microchips, which is already slowing production today.
According to the expectations of the Vice President of Volkswagen in China, Rainer Seidl, the world's largest car market is expected to grow at a rate similar to that of the second largest economy overall this year.
Experts predicted growth of “more than eight percent” for China.
With the effects of the corona pandemic, the Volkswagen Group's sales in China fell by 9.1 percent last year and the car market as a whole by six percent, while the overall economy had grown by 2.3 percent.
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With strict measures, China has largely got the Sars-CoV-2 virus under control since the summer and is now only recording locally limited outbreaks.
Life and economic activity have returned to normal.
The car market also picked up significantly again at the end of the year.
"I am firmly convinced that China has not only really overcome Covid-19, but even more so the short-term downturn that began with the trade tensions between the US and China in 2018," said Wöllenstein.
In 2021, the market will grow beyond the level of 2019 before the Corona crisis.
Wöllenstein complained about a "significant shortage of electronic parts" due to the shortage of semiconductor modules, which led to delayed deliveries.
As a result, the Volkswagen Group in China had already produced 50,000 fewer cars in December.
The problems should persist in the first quarter and not be overcome until the second quarter.
“It can be seen how vulnerable industries are today if only one chip is missing,” said Wöllenstein.
Volkswagen works “day and night” to solve the problems.
It changes every day.
"It's really an up and down."
The Volkswagen Group also wants to benefit from the strong growth in electromobility in China.
This year 13 of 25 new models will also be operated electrically.
Although the overall market shrank, sales of electrically and hybrid-powered cars (NEV) rose last year by 7.4 percent to 1.15 million.
The government in Beijing wants to increase the share of electrically powered cars in the market to 20 percent by 2025.
The Volkswagen group will then aim to sell 1.5 million NEV cars.
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After decades of strong growth, the Chinese car market had shrunk for three years in a row, but the government is promoting sales again, which led to strong growth rates in the second half of the year.
While the rest of the world remains in recession, according to experts, the dependence of automakers on the Chinese market is growing.
According to Wöllenstein, China's share of the global Volkswagen business is 30 to 40 percent - which is greater than China's share of the global automobile market of 30 percent.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210120-99-95176 / 2