Overview
- Volkswagen says its VCTC site in Hefei is now fully operational with the ability to independently develop and validate vehicles for China, including full platform approval outside Germany for the first time.
- The final build-out adds more than 100 laboratories across roughly 100,000 square meters for software–hardware integration, battery and powertrain testing, and full-vehicle validation.
- Exports from Hefei have started to the Arab region, with VW assessing additional markets such as Central Asia and Southeast Asia, and the center prepared to tailor China-developed models to local rules for regions including the Middle East and South America.
- VW reports about €3 billion invested in Hefei over three to four years, roughly 9,000 developers in China, and around 900 programmers focused on software that executives say controls about 11 million lines of code with most issues resolved internally within 24 hours.
- Executives say the first Hefei-developed model enters production this year, with a rapid rollout of new electrified vehicles planned in the next two years and further all‑electric models targeted by 2030.