Volkswagen Expands China R&D and Technology Partnerships

People's Daily reported that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Volkswagen Group's research and development center in Hefei, Anhui, on October 27 during a state visit to China. The site represents Volkswagen's largest research and development center outside Germany, where the president test-drove an intelligent electric vehicle developed locally. The automaker formed a joint venture with intelligent driving firm Horizon in October 2022 and acquired a stake in XPeng in July 2023 to develop electric models. In November 2025, Volkswagen completed its first full-process research and testing facility outside Germany in Anhui, followed by securing an L3 autonomous driving road testing license in Hefei in October 2026. In 2024, Volkswagen and SAIC Motor extended their joint venture cooperation agreement until 2040. Rapid expansion of Chinese domestic brands and heightened competition across the new energy vehicle sector have concurrently encouraged German and Chinese enterprises to accelerate ongoing product and technical upgrades. On October 28, Volkswagen Group China unveiled its locally developed integrated technology matrix named VEGA during its inaugural technology day. The group announced plans to expand the scale effect of its China-developed technologies, with initial intentions to introduce these systems into the South American market.