New facilities
New Volkswagen assembly plants are under construction in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the east, Guangdong province in the south and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the northwest.
The new facilities and a buildup at existing plants will boost Volkswagen's annual production capacity in China to 4 million vehicles or more by 2018, according to Heizmann.
He said that the number of employees at the Volkswagen China headquarters in Beijing and the joint ventures will increase from 50,000 to about 85,000 people in the next three to five years.
Staff numbers at the German carmaker's dealerships in China will double to 160,000, he added.
Responding to questions in China about Volkswagen's DSG transmissions, which have been subject of many customer complaints, Heizmann noted that "the lesson we learned is that we have to be closer to customers and respond as quickly as possible".
In May, the company announced it would extend the warranty on DSG transmissions in China to 10 years or 160,000 km, up from the previous four years or 15,000 km.
Angry customers said they encountered problems including abnormal noise, excessive shift shock and a sudden change to emergency mode.
The problems were found as early as in 2009 in China, but Volkswagen only began free services at its dealerships to update software in March this year.
The slow reaction resulted in growing customer complaints that tainted the brand and DSG technology in China.
Heizmann said the company's current solution for DSG problems has been "successful".
"The DSG is a correct and advanced technology and we will continue to use it globally," he added.
On Aug 31, Volkswagen started building a DSG transmission plant in Tianjin, its second after the existing factory in Dalian.
The new plant will be operational in late 2014 with an annual production capacity of 450,000 transmissions.
The group's joint venture with SAIC makes Volkswagen and Skoda cars. The tie-up with FAW builds Volkswagens and Audis.
On Thursday, Volkswagen launched its all-new Beetle in China as an import.
The iconic model, retailing between 198,800 and 299,800 yuan, has two engine options: 1.2-liter and 1.4-liter TSI. It is equipped with a 7-speed DSG transmission.
The 1.2-liter version produces maximum power of 77kW and offers peak torque of 175Nm. It accelerates from zero to 100km/h in 10.9 seconds and has a top speed of 180km/h. Its combined fuel consumption is 5.9 liters only.
The 1.4-liter version generates maximum power of 118kW and boasts peak torque of 240Nm. It accelerates from zero to 100km/h in 8.3 seconds and has a top speed of 208km/h.
It consumes 6.6 liters of gasoline. The all-new Beetle is 4278mm long, 1808mm wide and 1486mm high. Its wheelbase is 2537mm.
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hantianyang@chinadaily.com.cn and gongzhengzheng@chinadaily.com.cn
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