Volkswagen Anhui could scrap the MEB in China

Volkswagen Anhui will apparently not launch any new models based on the MEB in China. New models will instead only use the electric car platform that VW is developing in collaboration with Xpeng.

According to a report by the Chinese portal AutoPix, the reason for the decision is poor sales figures for the VW ID. UNYX. The MEB model, which has been on sale since July, is built by VW Anhui in Hefei for the Chinese market. It is essentially a Cupra Tavascan, which is also built in Hefei for the global markets. The ID. UNYX, on the other hand, is sold under the VW brand, but – with its significantly more dynamic design – is intended to appeal to a different target group than the previous ID. models in China. At least in theory.

In practice, however, it is said that this has not worked out so well. The report quotes a source close to VW Anhui as saying “that apart from a handful of large customer orders, only a few hundred units of the ID.UNYX have been retailed since its launch.” VW Anhui offers a discount of 40,000 yuan (approx. 5,200 euros) on the model until the end of the year, making it available from 169,900 yuan (22,120 euros). Customers who bought an ID. UNYX before 8 November will receive a cash payment.

VW Anhui had planned to launch four electric models on the Chinese market by 2026 – the ID. UNYX, three more. These vehicles were also to use the MEB, which is now apparently being questioned given the sales figures. According to the AutoPix report, these new models will thus no longer use the MEB, but the platform developed jointly with Xpeng. It used to be called the China Main Platform (CMP), but the report refers to the China Electrical Architecture (CEA). Either way, as the models developed with Xpeng will not go into production until the end of 2025 and are not due to be launched on the market until 2026, this could delay VW Anhui’s model timetable.

In terms of drive technology, the ID.UNYX offers the familiar MEB standard: the rear-wheel drive variant utilises the 210 kW APP550 in combination with a 77 kWh battery. It ensures a range of 621 kilometres in the Chinese CLTC. The all-wheel drive version with a second electric motor on the front axle has an output of 250 kW. However, the focus of the vehicle developed at Volkswagen’s Innovation and Development Centre (VCTC) in Hefei was not on the drive system anyway, but on the software.

One of the new developments from the VCTC is the so-called ‘3D avatar’. As Chinese customers want a different kind of interaction with the vehicle – as other personalised assistants from Chinese car manufacturers have shown – VW has added an ‘interactive, AI-based 3D avatar’ to the human-machine interface. Its appearance can be customised using an app.

cnevpost.com