Volkswagen CEO Heaps Praises On China, Says Would Be 'Very Damaging' For Germany Or EU To Seek To Decouple From The Country

Volkswagen Group VWAGY CEO Herbert Diess on Monday praised China for its speed and technology and called for more cooperation and presence in the region.

What Happened: Diess shared a LinkedIn post to say there is a need for more cooperation between Europe and China and not less.

“On the political side we need cooperation, dialogue, international collaboration and an expansion of our economic relations,” Diess said in the post.

The 63-year old Volkswagen CEO said it would be “very damaging” if Germany or the European Union wanted to decouple from China. 

“As a global company, we will never stop advocating for globalization, a multilateral rules- based trading system and engagement. Moreover, We will only keep pace with innovations if we face the competition in the Chinese market. 

VW In China: Diess said it aims to double the sales target for the recently launched ID. series of electric vehicles in China.

See Also: Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess Keeps His Job, Company Ramps Up EV Investments As It Looks Ahead To 'Important Years Of Transformation'

Volkswagen earlier this year said it aims to sell between 80,000 to 100,000 ID. in China. The German automaker has sold more than 10,000 units in the past three consecutive months but it will still be short of reaching the low end of its target by the end of the year. 

Volkswagen currently sells the ID. 3, ID. 4 and the ID. 6 electric vehicles in China.

Why It Matters: China is a key market for Volkswagen outside of Europe where it has a nearly 37% of its global volumes. In China, Volkswagen’s ID. series of electric cars compete with industry leader Tesla Inc TSLA and homegrown startups Nio Inc NIO, Xpeng Inc XPEV and others. 

See Also: Volkswagen Beats Xpeng, Li Auto And Nio Numbers For Octobers With Its ID. Series Deliveries In China

Volkswagen had earlier this month named Ralf Brandstätter, 53, as the new head for the company’s China business, replacing the current China CEO Stephan Wollenstein, who held the post for three years. Brandstätter will take on the new role in August.

Price Action: VWAGY shares closed 0.87% lower at $29.48 a share on Monday.

Photo: Courtesy of Alexander Migl via Wikimedia