The Stricter CO2 Requirements Automatically Lead To Electromobility
The Stricter CO2 Requirements Automatically Lead To Electromobility

Video: The Stricter CO2 Requirements Automatically Lead To Electromobility

Video: The Stricter CO2 Requirements Automatically Lead To Electromobility
Video: The Electric Vehicle Charging Problem 2024, March
Anonim

Volkswagen is on the road to success in China. In an interview with Autogazette, China Board Member Jochem Heizmann talks about sales targets, the new SOL electric brand and why there is no need for an e-quota in Germany.

The VW Group wants to grow faster than the overall market in China this year. “We assume that the overall market will grow by four to five percent over the course of the year. Our goal is to land above this value,”said VW China board member Jochem Heizmann in an interview with Autogazette. In the previous year, the Wolfsburg-based company sold almost 4.2 million vehicles in its largest single market.

spoods.de

Entry into the mass segment with the electric brand SOL

Heizmann expects further sales growth from the electric brand SOL, which was founded together with the joint venture partner JAC. The E20X mini-SUV presented at the Beijing Auto Show would serve the A / 0 segment on the Chinese market. "We are now represented with one product in a mass segment," said Heizmann. As the manager added, the goal is “to bring a total of around 40 new, locally produced electric models onto the market in China together with our partners by 2025”.

So represented in the mass segment

Autogazette: Mr. Heizmann, VW founded the electric brand SOL together with its joint venture partner JAC. Is only your own electrical brand the guarantee for success?

Jochem Heizmann: No, it is a useful addition to our current and planned portfolio of electric vehicles - locally produced and imported. We are thus serving the A / 0 segment on the Chinese e-car market. We are now represented with a product in a mass segment. In addition, our goal is to work with our partners to bring a total of around 40 new, locally produced electric models onto the market in China by 2025.

Autogazette: The focus of the activities is still on the activities with your previous joint venture partners?

Heizmann: Nothing will change about that. The focus is still on the cooperation with FAW- and SAIC-Volkswagen.

Autogazette: Other manufacturers like Daimler also have their own e-brand in China with Denza. It's not a success story …

Heizmann: … for us it's a joint venture, with Seat taking the leading role on the part of the Volkswagen Group. If you look at the SOL E20X, you see genes from Seat design. In addition, Seat is a particularly young brand with emotional lines. Seat is addressing a young clientele that we want to reach with the SOL in China. We are thus creating an entry-level segment. But it is not one with which we compete with SAIC-Volkswagen or FAW-Volkswagen.

What is currently being sold are more like mini cars

Image
Image

Autogazette: What are your sales expectations for this vehicle?

Heizmann: Sales are based on how the A / 0 segment is developing overall. At the moment, the battery electric market is subsidy-driven. What is currently being sold are more like mini cars, very, very small vehicles. The trend is towards larger vehicles and with the SOL we offer a corresponding range.

Autogazette: When should the vehicle come on the market?

Heizmann: It will come onto the market in the second half of this year, at the latest at the beginning of the last quarter. Production starts in summer.

Autogazette: is there already a price?

Heizmann: We'll wait and see how the segment develops itself.

Then it will be exciting on the market

Image
Image

Autogazette: The middle class in China is ready to spend around 300,000 Renmibi on a vehicle. How much will your vehicle be below this?

Heizmann: Definitely, we will be significantly cheaper. But when you mention such prices, you always have to say whether you are talking about a price before or after subsidies. From 2020 onwards, the topic will change in any case when state funding expires. Then things get exciting on the market.

Autogazette: will the admission requirements also change?

Heizmann: We are assuming that the preference for electric vehicles will continue to be given after 2020.

Autogazette: All experts say that China will become the lead market for electromobility. Why is that?

Heizmann:The Chinese government's interest in promoting the development of e-mobility is very high. In China, for example, there is a lot of financial support for the topic of electromobility. On the one hand we have subsidies, on the other hand we are in the process of significantly expanding the charging infrastructure. In this area in particular, Europe has some catching up to do. In addition, the Chinese customers are open to the new technology and the demand and wide acceptance of electric vehicles is increasing rapidly. In addition, there are restrictions in metropolises to even get a license plate for vehicles with internal combustion engines. But there is one point where China is not so different from Europe: it is the aspect of consumption: by 2020, a fleet consumption of five liters,by 2025 four liters are expected to be reached. If you want to achieve something like this, you need a high proportion of electric vehicles.

Better charging infrastructure is needed

Image
Image

Autogazette: What can Germany and what can Europe learn from the Chinese market?

Heizmann: I think that electromobility in Germany will now develop faster due to the CO2 requirements alone. Because to achieve the CO2 target of 95 g / km, which will apply from 2020, you need a high proportion of electricity. Therefore no own E-Quota is necessary. Above all, however, it is important that customers accept and buy the electric cars. To do this, the costs have to fall. This happens through large numbers. Further advances in battery technology will achieve greater ranges. You also need a better charging infrastructure.

Autogazette: Doesn't Germany also need specifications such as an e-quota in order to achieve a higher proportion of electrified vehicles?

Heizmann: That is not necessary. The stricter CO2 requirements automatically lead to electromobility. The general conditions already mentioned, such as price, range and infrastructure, must ensure that the cars are bought.

Autogazette: All manufacturers have been complaining about the strict CO2 requirements for years. So why didn't e-cars come onto the market earlier?

Heizmann: We come at exactly the right time. We are now starting in China with our locally produced e-vehicles. On the one hand with plug-in hybrids, which can bridge gaps in the infrastructure, especially outside of the big cities, thanks to the activated combustion engine. At the same time, pure e-cars will come onto the market on the proven platforms. Finally, vehicles based on the new modular electrical system, such as the ID family, will follow. With these cars, we provide the answers that customers demand.

The agreement that has now been made is consistent

Image
Image

Autogazette: How problematic is it for the VW Group to achieve the ten percent e-quota that will apply from 2019?

Heizmann: We will meet the quota, which does not mean a share of ten percent of the vehicle fleet, but a corresponding share of credit points. Plug-in hybrids receive two credit points, pure battery vehicles three and a half to 6 points.

Autogazette: Then why did the automotive industry resist this so vehemently?

Heizmann: We never resisted the quota, but rather we spoke out against plans that this rule should apply as early as 2018 without preparation time. The agreement that has now been made to introduce the quota in 2019 is consistent in its design. Because if you do not reach it by 2019, you can still compensate for it in 2020. If it is exceeded, credits can be carried over into 2020. The decisive factor is no longer the quota, but the target consumption.

Autogazette: Every fifth car sold in China from 2025 should already be electric. Is it a realistic goal for you?

Heizmann: It is an order of magnitude that is necessary to achieve fleet consumption of four liters by 2025. The cars in China are bigger, they are heavier. Here too, SUVs are very popular. If you want to achieve this level of consumption with such cars, they need electrification. This is one of the reasons why e-mobility will grow rapidly.

Environmental protection plays a role

Image
Image

Autogazette: Is China pushing the topic of electromobility primarily for reasons of environmental protection or rather for reasons of industrial policy?

Heizmann: Environmental protection plays a role - and not just in Beijing. The auto industry must and will do its bit, but other industries must do so too.

Autogazette: Does n't industrial policy play a special role? After it was not possible to act on an equal footing with the European manufacturers of internal combustion engines, this should now work out for e-mobility.

Heizmann: In general, competition brings innovation. We don't fear this competition as long as it is fair.

Our goal is to be above this value

Autogazette: Last year you sold almost 4.2 million cars in China. Now, after the first quarter, VW is over 13 percent with over one million vehicles. Growth. Will this growth be sustained?

Heizmann: We got off to an excellent start this year. We assume that the overall market will grow by four to five percent over the course of the year. Our goal is to land above this value.

Autogazette: So far, people have always said that they want to generate 15 to 25 percent of their total sales with electric cars from 2025 onwards. This also applies to China?

Heizmann: There is the aforementioned relationship between fleet consumption and NEVs. Now it depends on customer behavior. If it continues to develop towards SUVs, we will need more and more NEVs. Against this background, 25 percent is by then not unrealistic in the context of the fleet consumption targets.

Frank Mertens conducted the interview with Jochem Heizmann

Recommended: