Volkswagen is getting ready to bring selected Chinese EVs to Europe

Volkswagen is actively evaluating the possibility of bringing several of its China-only models to Europe. Speaking at the Paris motor show, Volkswagen boss Thomas Schäfer told Autocar that these vehicles would serve as additions to the existing line-up rather than replacements for current products. Over the past two years, Volkswagen has focused on aggressively cutting material and engineering costs in China, resulting in vehicles built on a bespoke regional architecture that are fully cost-competitive in the Chinese market. Technical chief Kai Grünitz and his team have worked in parallel with colleagues in China, and the automaker is already beginning exports to regions such as Australia and the Middle East. For the future, Volkswagen is preparing to introduce one or more selected vehicles into Europe to see how they perform. While some models like the 5.2-metre-long ID Era SUV might be technically too big to develop specifically for Europe, other options are on the cards. Potential candidates include the ID Unyx 09, an electric saloon co-developed with VW’s Chinese partner Xpeng, and the 4.8-metre-long ID Aura T6 SUV, which could sit above the smaller ID Tiguan in Europe as a rival to the Volvo EX60.