P.M. BRIEFING : China to Produce VW Golf Cars
From Times Wire Services
BEIJING —
Volkswagen AG and China’s First Automobile Works signed an $807-million joint venture agreement today, pledging to produce 150,000 locally made Golf cars by 1996.
China welcomed the deal as a “major project” in its new economic blueprint.
Work on the new venture between the giant German auto maker and China’s oldest auto company is slated to begin next year in the city of Changchun, in northeast Jilin province.
Volkswagen Chairman Carl Hahn and his Chinese counterpart were optimistic but vague about the venture’s ambitious goals. Neither side would give the estimated price of the Chinese-made Golfs. Hahn said only that the cars would cost less than Shanghai-produced VW Santanas, which sell for $27,000.
