Volkswagen sees China sales picking up after coronavirus blow

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group expects automobile revenue in China to quadruple in March, the head of its China functions stated, pointing to a recovery subsequent the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are cautiously optimistic that the worst outcomes of the disaster will be behind us in two to three months,” stated Stephan Woellenstein, head of VW Group’s China enterprise.

VW is the biggest world automaker in China.

Demand from customers was nonetheless minimal, the automaker stated, but it is organized to ramp up potential at factories in the country, 22 of which experienced resumed production. Two assembly vegetation in Changsha and Urumqi are nonetheless closed, the automaker stated.

Woellenstein stated he envisioned full market revenue of up to 1 million in March, up from 250,000 in February.

“There are more and more symptoms that enterprise is recovering. By the center of the calendar year, we could be again to final year’s arranging,” Woellenstein stated. “Hope is returning on the Chinese market.”

In 2020, Volkswagen expects a drop of 3-fifteen percent in the Chinese market but confirmed options to spend more than 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) this calendar year there, with about forty percent of that sum earmarked for electrical driving.

“We believe that the recovery will keep on and that we will be running in a standard market environment once again in 2021,” Woellenstein stated.

Volkswagen options to sell 1.5 million electrical vehicles in China for every calendar year beginning in 2025.