VOLKSWAGEN Group is planning to team up with its Chinese partners in 2019 to invest over 4 billion euros (US$4.5 billion) in China, in frontier fields including mobility services, electric vehicles and fast charging networks.

The German carmaker hopes to speed up transition with continuous and strong investment, Volkswagen Group China division president and CEO Jochem Heizmann said ahead of the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition.

The company will work with its joint ventures and new partners in a wide range of new fields including tech and mobility services to provide such services to Chinese customers, said Heizmann.

Volkswagen will launch over 30 new energy vehicle models in China over the next two years, with half of the models being manufactured locally, he said.

The automaker is expected to deliver approximately 400,000 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market in 2020, with the number expected to surge to about 1.5 million vehicles in 2025.

Volkswagen’s first batch of China-made electric vehicles based on its MEB platform will roll off production lines at two plants of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen in 2020.

It will also work with local partners to explore building a public fast charging network for electric vehicles in China starting from 2019.

Volkswagen is also accelerating the development of autonomous driving technology in China. Its Audi brand has obtained L4 automatic driving testing qualifications in Beijing and Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu Province.

Volkswagen chief executive Herbert Diess will take on responsibility for the carmaker’s business in China, a source said Friday.

Diess will take over the China role early next year from Jochem Heizmann, who will retire, the source said.

Volkswagen is Europe’s largest automaker with more than 120 plants worldwide. Its global sales hit 10.74 million vehicles in 2017, with 4.18 million of those being sold in China.(SD-Xinhua)