VW China boss Ralf Brandstätter: “Team China is ready to deliver.” Photo: Volkswagen AG
Hefei. “Team China is ready to deliver,” wrote Ralf Brandstätter on the LinkedIn platform on Monday. Pictures posted by Volkswagen’s China boss show him with VW Supervisory Board Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch in Beijing, Shanghai – and in Hefei. In the eastern Chinese city, Volkswagen is working on the future – and on its survival in China.
For the first time in the company’s 88-year history, a vehicle will be developed and produced entirely outside of Germany. Mass production of the ID.Unyx 07 started on December 31, 2025, after only 13 months of development. The first model is scheduled to come onto the market in the first half of 2026.
In order to be able to compete in the world’s largest car market in the future, the Volkswagen Group China Technology Company (VCTC) in Hefei has been given great entrepreneurial freedom: decisions are made on site, at “China Speed”. Development and production take place locally, with local suppliers.
VW is not only developing its own electric car platform for the Chinese market, but also its own software architecture, the so-called China Electric Architecture (CEA). Developing the software yourself is now as important as developing the drive train and engine, VCTC boss Thomas Ulbrich recently emphasized to journalists in Hefei.