Why Volkswagen Won’t Bring Its Chinese Cars To Europe

Most car manufacturers these days will design, develop and build cars in China exclusively for China. This has been a pretty common practice for decades, and has only ramped up in the age of electrification.

VW Group’s line-up out there is pretty rife with market-exclusive options. There’s the Lavida saloon and ID6 X SUV just to name a couple, and of course AUDI (not to be confused with Audi).

We know there are several reasons for doing so. Cultural differences and preferences in cars, and government incentives to build cars in China (and often deterrents to import them) are usually cited, but what’s stopping VW just bringing its Chinese market cars to Europe?

Well, in a pretty revealing post on LinkedIn, the group’s big boss in China has revealed why.

Ralf Brandstätter, member of the board of Volkswagen AG for China, has stated Europe’s love for buttons as one of the biggest reasons. More diplomatically, adding: “Chinese consumers expect AI-first, connected vehicles, with seamless voice control, and smart cockpits as the norm.

“The average age of EV buyers in China is under 35… By contrast, European buyers have an average age of 56. They often prioritise tactile controls, long-term durability, and driving dynamics.”

On that topic of technology, the target market for assisted systems are also cited by Brandstätter, adding: “That works in a city like Shanghai, where average speeds hover under 30 km/h, doesn’t automatically translate to Germany’s Autobahn, where e.g. the assisted driving systems must also perform at top speeds.”

Probably the biggest factor of all, though? Money. “Focusing exclusively on local requirements enables us to develop much faster and more cost-effectively than if we were developing for the whole world.”,  Brandstätter said, “This is crucial in order to compete in an extremely competitive market such as China.”

In short, don’t expect to see any Chinese Volkswagens over here anytime soon. We’re not too upset, given it finally stopped building its last VR6 over there in 2024…