Looking for some good news amid the gloom? Well, we can help, or at least Volkswagen can. The German carmaker says that it is seeing signs of recovery in the Chinese car market, as the lockdowns start to ease, and normality starts to return to life there.
Showroom footfall back to normal levels
Volkswagen says that all of is 2,000 dealers in China are now open again, and that showroom traffic (i.e: the number of people actually coming in to look at new cars) in the last weekend of March was comparable to the same period last year. Now, it's true to say that the Chinese car market was in a downturn this time last year, but it was nothing like the enforced shut-downs we've been seeing across the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
32 out of 33 Chinese factories working again
95 per cent of the other Volkswagen Group brand showrooms (including Audi and Skoda) are also open again, and the joint venture factory in the city of Changsa, co-owned with Chinese conglomerate SAIC, is also up and running again. 32 out 33 Volkswagen Group factories in China are now up and back in production, too.
Volkswagen Group China CEO Stephan Wöllenstein said: "Our dealerships are seeing customers on the showroom floors once again. There are growing signs of recovery, with a good chance that the Chinese car market could reach last year's level in early summer. For Volkswagen, many highlights are still to come in 2020. This year, MEB production will begin and the Volkswagen ID. family will debut in China."
Production of electric cars in China to start soon
All of this good news means that Volkswagen is planning on re-starting its plans to make and sell electric cars in China, which is still the largest market in the world for battery-powered cars. Volkswagen Group factories in Anting and Foshan, with a combined capacity of some 600,000 cars per year, will start producing to Volkswagen ID electric models (most likely the ID.3 hatchback and the ID.4 SUV) later this year. Audi will start making its e-Tron electric SUV at its factory in Changchun by the end of the year.
There we are. Some good news at last.