Volkswagen China CEO responds to rumors of leaving: it will not leave in February next year.

Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen Group (China), confirmed his departure on November 22nd, but not in February, after being rumored to be leaving China.

"I have been leading the Volkswagen brand in China for six years, and I have been the CEO of Volkswagen Group in China for more than three years. Will I leave China? The answer is yes. " On November 22, Feng Sihan made this message clear to the outside world, but at the same time, he said that he would not leave China on February 1 next year. "in January next year, I will introduce Volkswagen China's performance in 2021 and its plans for 2022."

The rumors about Feng Sihan's departure began as early as the eve of the opening of the Guangzhou auto show. According to foreign media reports, a person familiar with the matter said that Feng Sihan will leave China because Volkswagen is currently experiencing setbacks in the Chinese market, including slow launch of new electric vehicles, sluggish sales growth and a gradual decline in its fuel vehicle sales. The date of "leaving" is scheduled for February 1 next year.

Volkswagen Group Chinese officials have responded to the rumors by saying "no comment on speculation".

Feng Sihan became CEO, of Volkswagen Group (China) in early 2019 and served as a member of the Volkswagen passenger car brand management board. In August 2016, he became CEO of Volkswagen passenger car brand in China. Prior to that, Feng Sihan, who joined Volkswagen Group in 1995, worked successively in the joint ventures SAIC-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen in China.

"working in China for a long time has brought many advantages, such as for joint venture partners, they are quite familiar with government authorities and have a lot of cooperation. On the other hand, the (Volkswagen) group has a good principle and tradition-when a manager has been in a job or place for many years, it needs to make adjustments and changes. Because, although managers can gain more and more experience in the local market, they may lack a fresh perspective. " Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen China, gave his own explanation.

In previous foreign media reports that Feng Sihan was leaving, sales in the Chinese market were weak, especially the Volkswagen brand ID.. The sales of the series fell short of expectations, which is considered to be the biggest reason for his departure.

So far, Volkswagen Group has launched five ID. based on Volkswagen MEB platform in the Chinese market. Series of pure electric models, including SAIC-Volkswagen ID.4 X, ID.6 X and ID.3, and FAW-Volkswagen ID.4 CROZZ, ID.6 CROZZ. Data show that in the first 10 months of this year, Volkswagen Group ID. About 47200 series electric models were sold in China; more than 12700 were sold in October, up 25.8 per cent from a month earlier.

However, this data is similar to Volkswagen ID. The series is a far cry from 208800 cars in Europe as of the end of September. The crisis of trust in Feng Sihan at Wolfsburg headquarters may come from this.

"the introduction of ID.3 in the European market is a year earlier than the Chinese market, and ID.4 is also earlier than the Chinese market." In Feng Sihan's view, in addition to the time of product introduction, the "retreat" of policy subsidies in China's new energy vehicle market and the difference between EU countries' incentives and preferential policies for new energy vehicles also lead to ID. in the Chinese market. The main reason why the sales of the series products are not as good as those in Europe.

According to the plan, Volkswagen ID. The series aims to sell 8-100000 vehicles in China this year and 16-200000 next year.

Although Feng Sihan's explanation emphasizes the objective reasons, ID. It is true that the series did not perform well in China. What's more, the transformation of Volkswagen Global CEO Disi to Volkswagen Group is almost desperate, and it will not allow any mistakes in China, Volkswagen's largest single car market in the world. " Some people in the industry have analyzed and indicated that.

Volkswagen Group has announced that it will invest 60 billion euros in future areas such as hybrid, electric travel and digitization between 2020 and 2024.

For Volkswagen brands, in addition to the five ID. currently produced in North and South Volkswagen In addition to the series of models, Anhui Volkswagen, which landed during Feng Sihan's tenure, is also an important part of Volkswagen's radical electrification strategy. According to Feng Sihan, Volkswagen's mass-produced models in Anhui supply both the Chinese local market and the opportunity to export to Europe. Anhui Volkswagen will complete its construction in the fourth quarter of 2022, including three models in the first batch of mass production products from 2023 to 2025, and three more products from the end of 2026 to 2028. As far as the production plan is concerned, we will put into production six models in Volkswagen Anhui. " Feng Sihan said.

Although it is clear that he will not leave in February next year, for Feng Sihan, he may no longer be able to witness the launch of Anhui Volkswagen as CEO of Volkswagen China. The joint venture controlled by Volkswagen Group may be the real core of Volkswagen's future battle in China's new energy vehicle market.