China FAW and VW Establish New Jetta Brand Company in Chengdu

China First Automotive Works (China FAW), a major state-owned automaker, announced on August 29 the signing of a "Jetta Business Development Cooperation Agreement" with Volkswagen (VW)'s Chinese subsidiary and Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone. The plan involves jointly establishing a new Jetta brand company in Chengdu to accelerate Jetta's electrification, with five new models planned for launch by 2028 (four of which will be New Energy Vehicles). The first model targets a 2026 launch. VW is strengthening development and production of low- to mid-priced vehicles in China's NEV market, predicting that low- to mid-priced vehicles will account for approximately 50% of domestic NEV sales by 2030. Models priced around 100,000 yuan (approximately 2.1 million yen) are expected to drive market growth. New vehicles will strengthen localization of development platform technology and include advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). VW Group (China) CEO Ralf Brandstätter emphasized the "In China, for China" strategy, aiming to respond to diverse customer needs in China.