SAIC Volkswagen rolls out 26 millionth vehicle

An electric ID.3 vehicle rolled off SAIC Volkswagen's assembly line on Wednesday at its Anting plant in Shanghai, making the Sino-German joint venture the country's first passenger carmaker to have produced 26 million vehicles.

Established in 1984, SAIC Volkswagen is one of the first joint ventures in the country's automotive industry.

SAIC Volkswagen said it took the company around half a year to scale up its cumulative production from 25 million units to 26 million units, despite chip shortages and the COVID-19 that caused production disruptions.

The Shanghai-based carmaker, which produces Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi-branded vehicles, sold 1.32 million units last year, up 6.3 percent year-on-year.

The Lavida family was the most popular among its lineup, with 376,000 units delivered in 2022.

They were followed by SAIC Volkswagen's SUVs, whose combined sales stood at 353,000 units.

Its electric models started to gain momentum as well, with sales of the ID. family reaching 75,000 units in 2022.

In 2022, vehicle makers in China sold 26.86 million units, registering a meager growth rate of 2.1 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The CAAM estimates that vehicle sales will grow at around 3 percent this year, with the new energy vehicle sector one of the driving forces.