It is always difficult for people to remember the second and third, but they can always remember the first clearly.
You may forget what it feels like to hug the opposite sex for the second time, but you must remember the throbbing of the first hug. Just like you may not remember the second car you took and drove, but you are impressed with the first car.
So, do you remember what was the first car you sat in and drove? I believe most people’s answer is only three words:.
People who came from the era of "owning Santana and traveling all over the world are not afraid" always have a memory in their minds, that is, the square front, the VW logo carved on the plastic grille and the classic "Shanghai Volkswagen" tail logo …
When the time train galloped past forty platforms, the meaning of "SAIC Volkswagen" was very different for China automobile industry and even everyone. During these forty years, SAIC-Volkswagen witnessed the rise of China’s automobile industry and the great achievements of reform and opening up. At the same time, it also gained its own prosperity as the first joint venture automobile company in China.
Yesterday, SAIC Volkswagen opened a neon for the China auto market.
Let’s temporarily adjust the time back to the time node that crossed in the 1970s and 1980s.
At that time, there were not many small cars running in China, except for Beijing 212 and Shanghai brand cars. Old friends who came from that era probably have the impression that there are always several dark green 212 cars and several white or blue-green Shanghai cars parked in the tree-lined government compound.
In that era when the global automobile industry entered prosperity, China automobile industry can still be described as "barren".
After the tide of reform and opening up came, the state decided to vigorously develop the automobile industry. So in 1978, China made initial contact with German audi ag. After many arguments, in 1984, Shanghai Car Factory and German Volkswagen formally signed the joint venture and cooperation regulations, and the two sides jointly established Shanghai Volkswagen Co., Ltd.
The first car introduced into China market by Shanghai Volkswagen Joint Venture Company is the "Santana" which will be popular all over the country in the next 30 years. However, as the first joint venture car in China, Santana’s landing road is also quite tortuous.
China in the 1980s did not have a modern automobile industry base. Therefore, the first batch of Santana cars launched by Shanghai Volkswagen for the China market can only be produced by CKD parts imported and assembled. On the assembly line, the workers of Shanghai Volkswagen can only assemble the whole vehicle by hand.
In fact, while bringing Santana, Shanghai Volkswagen also shoulders an important mission, which is to bring advanced production technology and manufacturing technology of western automobile industry to China after the establishment of the factory. In other words, Shanghai Volkswagen shoulders the responsibility of "starter" of China Hyundai Motor Industry.
After a period of "extensive production", Shanghai Volkswagen invited experts from German Volkswagen to Shanghai for guidance in order to improve production capacity and efficiency, and introduced international manufacturing standards and production equipment. Through the intensive production line upgrade, Shanghai Volkswagen has increased the annual production scale of Santana to more than 50,000 vehicles in just six years. However, at this time, Shanghai Volkswagen still lags behind the development goal of "within 7 years, the localization rate of Santana will exceed 80%".
Then, after establishing the modern production process and manufacturing technology, the next plan of Shanghai Volkswagen is to establish a complete automobile supporting supply chain industry in China based on Santana.
In the TV series Blossoms Shanghai, No.120 Jinxian Road left an impression on the audience.
In reality, No.120 Jinxian Road is the original site of Shanghai Piston Factory. When Shanghai Volkswagen was determined to establish a modern automobile supply chain system, Shanghai Piston Factory signed a technology license transfer contract with German Kolbenschmidt Co., Ltd. to introduce piston manufacturing technology to purchase key manufacturing planes and test equipment.
Starting from the piston factory, Shanghai Volkswagen has also established a large number of spare parts suppliers since the 1990s, and established quality standards in China that meet German Volkswagen and international standards. At this point, China automobile supply chain industry has also entered a stage of prosperity and development.
It can be said that Shanghai Volkswagen, which started in the 1980s, not only brought brand-new Santana cars to the China market, but also brought a brand-new beginning to the automobile industry in this ancient land.
This joint venture car company is the first to introduce foreign capital, global standards and advanced manufacturing systems into China’s automobile industry. To some extent, the development history of Shanghai Volkswagen is the development history of China automobile industry marketization. As a pioneer of the whole industry, Shanghai Volkswagen is worthy of the title of "industry beacon".
Today, SAIC Volkswagen sets an industry benchmark with tens of millions of trust.
Today, the production and sales scale of SAIC Volkswagen has already exceeded 10 million, and it has become the first passenger car enterprise in China with a cumulative output exceeding 28 million. 40 years, 28 million, these data reflect the stable and prosperous development of SAIC Volkswagen.
Today, SAIC Volkswagen has three brands, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda, and continues to play a leading role as a joint venture car company with an annual sales of one million. Of course, the achievements made by SAIC-Volkswagen in the past 40 years are not only remarkable achievements in the market.
More importantly, SAIC Volkswagen has always created a new situation in the automobile industry.
If we say that during the period from the 1980s to the 1990s, SAIC-Volkswagen was introducing advanced technologies from the western automobile industry to help China’s modern automobile industry grow sturdily; Then, during the period from 2000 to 2000, SAIC Volkswagen made more wonderful contributions to the automobile industry with its own progress.
Since the Santana 2000 project at the beginning of the new century, SAIC-Volkswagen has started the road of independent research based on the global technical and design advantages of Volkswagen and the actual demand of China local market. As the first joint venture car company in China, SAIC Volkswagen has also become the first joint venture car company in China to independently develop new models.
When SAIC Volkswagen has the tradition of independent research, it has brought many refreshing products.
Volkswagen, through its insight into the needs of domestic household consumers, has created a large-space body and brought a quality experience to a total of 5 million home users; Volkswagen, on the other hand, deeply observes the young user groups and has become a travel partner of more and more young people with high value built by face value and performance; Volkswagen, as a large-size SUV with superior volume, is deeply favored by domestic middle and high-end users, and has gone abroad to dominate the North American market under the name of Atlas.
In fact, SAIC Volkswagen has many self-developed models, such as today’s L Pro, which not only brings a new experience to domestic consumers. More importantly, this new car pioneered the in-depth cooperation between SAIC Volkswagen and DJI, a China science and technology enterprise, and helped SAIC Volkswagen, which has a history of 40 years, formally enter the intelligent era with its intelligent performance comparable to that of new forces.
"Innovation" is the best summary of SAIC Volkswagen today.
From self-developed models to the development of advanced intelligent technology, SAIC Volkswagen has been at the forefront of the times every time. Undoubtedly, with the spirit of innovation as the basis of enterprise development, SAIC Volkswagen will definitely open up a new situation in the future.
What will the future of SAIC Volkswagen look like in 2040?
On the 40th anniversary of the establishment of SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC Motor Group, which came from Shanghai Car Factory step by step, signed an extended joint venture agreement with audi ag. According to the agreement, the joint venture period of SAIC Volkswagen will be extended for another 15 years to 2040.
The decision of the two parties to the joint venture also directly opened the door to the future for SAIC Volkswagen. We can’t help wondering what kind of situation SAIC Volkswagen will create when the era of intelligence and electrification comes.
The pulse of the times is constantly beating, and SAIC Volkswagen is always moving forward. As early as 2021, when, and ID.3 slowly drove off the production line of Anting MEB factory, SAIC Volkswagen opened the prelude to the future.
It can be seen that in the face of the surging intelligent electric era, SAIC Volkswagen has actively planned the enterprise transformation layout. At the same time, the three major ID. series models built on MEB platform have stood firm in the joint venture camp. In November, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 delivered more than 14,000 new cars and became the king of pure electricity sales among joint venture brands.
When SAIC Volkswagen’s new energy pace is getting faster and faster, this joint venture car company has also begun to think about a "philosophical question" that all traditional car companies must consider-facing the future, should we take the new energy route or keep the fuel route?
SAIC Volkswagen, which has developed for 40 years, has already accumulated a strong system strength, and the answer it brings is "all want". In the field of fuel vehicles, SAIC Volkswagen is committed to promoting environmental protection, high efficiency and intelligence of fuel vehicles. After popularizing more efficient 300TSI power, SAIC-Volkswagen also launched the strategy of combining oil with electricity. The Volkswagen Tiguan L Pro, which has the same intelligent performance as the smart electric model, has also become a popular model at present.
Based on the sales support of fuel vehicles, SAIC Volkswagen can also explore the new energy field more quickly. In November 2024, SAIC Volkswagen launched a brand-new luxury brand AUDI on the basis of Audi, and made its debut in the first concept car. After starting the alphabet, SAIC Volkswagen will further promote the transformation of high-end new energy.
It is reported that AUDI’s first new car, AUDI E, was designed by Audi’s German team. At the same time, the core three electrical components and intelligent system of this car came from SAIC Volkswagen’s supply chain system. In the close cooperation between SAIC and Volkswagen, we believe that the brand-new AUDI brand can create intelligent electrification products with strong strength for China users.
Of course, SAIC Volkswagen also showed a faster speed.
In 2025, AUDI E, the first model of the new brand, will be delivered in mass production. At the same time, within three years, the AUDI brand under SAIC Volkswagen also plans to launch three electric vehicles, covering the B-class market and the C-class market, and quickly seize the high-end smart power camp highland.
Conclusion:
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From the time when the first Santana was produced by knocking, to the time when Pro/ Tiguan L Pro and other models were rolled off the assembly line from a clean and tidy smart factory, SAIC Volkswagen took 40 years to set countless firsts in the history of China automobile industry.
I believe that many friends’ love for SAIC Volkswagen comes from their feelings. But what the author wants to say is that when we get out of the feelings of the years and the memories of the past, SAIC Volkswagen has always been a trendsetter standing on the top of the wave.
Nowadays, what SAIC Volkswagen is facing is not only the glory of the past forty years, but also the opportunity of the next fifteen years and the next fifty years. We are also willing to believe that in the next era, SAIC Volkswagen will bring us more touches and more surprises.
