Audi and SAIC's cooperation has landed, weighing heavily! Volkswagen invests $700 million in Xiaopeng Motors China | Market | Automotive

Release time:Apr 14, 2024 10:35 AM

On the evening of July 26th, Volkswagen Group announced that the Volkswagen brand had reached a technical framework agreement with Xiaopeng Motors. In the initial stage of cooperation, both parties plan to jointly develop two electric models under the Volkswagen brand for the mid size car market in China. These two new cars, exclusively for the Chinese market, will supplement the product portfolio based on the MEB platform and are planned to enter the market in 2026. The relevant cooperation content depends on the final agreement reached.

As part of this close and long-term strategic partnership, Volkswagen Group will increase its capital by approximately $700 million to acquire approximately 4.99% equity of Xiaopeng Motors at a price of $15 per ADS. After the transaction is completed, Volkswagen Group will receive an observer seat on the board of directors of Xiaopeng Motors. The issuance of shares will depend on the achievement of customary delivery prerequisites, including applicable regulatory approvals.

In addition, Audi and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC Group have signed a strategic memorandum to further deepen existing cooperation. Both parties will rapidly and efficiently expand the high-end market intelligent connected electric vehicle product portfolio through joint development. As the first step in planning, Audi will enter the previously untapped segmented market in China by launching a brand new electric vehicle model.

Volkswagen Group claims that both agreements envision the joint development of a new localized platform for the next generation of intelligent connected vehicles in the future. The partnership aims to rapidly expand the group's product lineup and create more "in China, for China" car models. The details of future cooperation on electric vehicle platforms will be further negotiated by the cooperating parties.

The newly established Volkswagen Technology Co., Ltd. will become a partner for Xiaopeng Motors in the development field. This technology company gathers research and development, innovation, and procurement functions, and is the largest research and development base of the Volkswagen Group except for Wolfsburg. In the future, over 2000 R&D and procurement experts will carry out related work on the new intelligent connected electric vehicle model here.

Compared to the current vehicle project, through joint development and procurement, both parties will achieve significant collaborative potential and cost advantages.

The relevant cooperation reflects the Volkswagen Group's "in China, for China" strategy. Based on this strategy, Volkswagen Group is committed to grasping the decisive trends in the Chinese market in the early stages of product development, and more efficiently utilizing the growth momentum and innovation strength of the Chinese market. To accelerate decision-making and development processes in China, Volkswagen Group is strengthening its local research and development capabilities in the fields of electric mobility, digitalization, and autonomous driving.

To this end, Volkswagen Group has established a highly modern production, research and development, and innovation base in Hefei, Anhui Province. Volkswagen Anhui will officially start production within this year. In addition, Volkswagen Parts Co., Ltd. has built a manufacturing factory for high-voltage battery systems in Hefei. Volkswagen Technologies has also established a research and procurement center for intelligent connected electric vehicles here.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen Group is focusing on cooperation with local high-tech enterprises in China. For Volkswagen Group, localized high-tech research and development, as well as systematic implementation of customer-oriented policies, are the key to playing a market leading role in the new era of intelligent connected vehicles.

Volkswagen stated that through cooperation between the Volkswagen brand and Xiaopeng Motors, Audi and SAIC Group, Volkswagen Group is strengthening its position in the Chinese automotive market and continuously promoting the development of its electrification strategy in China. Its goal is to quickly expand new customer groups and segmented markets to fully participate in the booming development of the Chinese electric vehicle market.

Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case
Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case

According to Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po, a bloody knife stabbing case occurred at Hollywood Square in Diamond Hill last Friday. The police arrested a 39 year old man on suspicion of stabbing two young women, one of whom was stabbed over 30 times. The suspect appeared in the Kwun Tong Magistrates Court this morning. The police at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court temporarily charged the suspect with two counts of murder last Sunday. The suspect appeared in court this morning at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court. Acting Chief Magistrate Zheng Jihang, after listening to the opinions of both the prosecution and defense, decided to postpone the hearing for two weeks until 9:30 am on June 19th, waiting for two psychiatric expert reports to be obtained. The defense did not object. Zheng Jihang approved the application, and the defendant needs to be temporarily detained at Xiaolan Mental Hospital. When the suspect appeared in court, he wore black framed glasses, a light gray shirt, and camouflage green shorts, and was able to answer the judge's questions normally. accordingly

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest

Currently, the highly anticipated summer harvest work in Henan has shifted its focus to the northern region of Henan. According to the Henan Daily client, on June 4th, Lou Yangsheng, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, presided over a special video scheduling meeting on the "Three Summers" work in the province, listened to the situation report, analyzed and judged the situation, and arranged and deployed the next steps of work. Governor Wang Kai made specific arrangements. On the evening of May 31, 2023, in Xiafutou Village, Xuliang Town, Boai County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, villagers braved light rain in the wheat fields to harvest wheat. Visual China Map Lou Yangsheng pointed out that the current summer harvest battle in the province has entered the decisive stage. Doing a good job in summer harvest in northern Henan Province is related to the summer grain yield and seed safety. We should focus on seizing opportunities and make every effort to organize the wheat harvesting work in the northern Henan region, minimize losses, and protect the interests of farmers to the greatest extent possible. Accurate forecasting is essential

Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology
Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology

On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu all safely and smoothly exited the spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-15 manned flight mission was a complete success. What innovative technologies are there to safeguard the return journey of Shenzhou 15 in this mission? On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen photographed that "the sky and the ground" ensure the high-precision return of spacecraft. For the Shenzhou series spacecraft, the return and re-entry GNC technology is directly related to the life safety of astronauts. Taking the success of this return mission as a symbol, China has comprehensively upgraded its GNC system since the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft, which features autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, autonomous adaptive prediction and re-entry return guidance, and has completed a comprehensive update and replacement

The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet
The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet

At noon today, a Chinese naval fleet consisting of Zhanjiang and Xuchang ships arrived at the assembly area of the "Comodo-2023" multinational maritime joint exercise. It is understood that the assembly anchorage for this exercise is 3 nautical miles long and 1.5 nautical miles wide, capable of anchoring up to 50 ships. Naval vessels from various countries participating in the exercise will also arrive at the anchorage today to complete the assembly of the "Komodo 2023" multinational maritime joint exercise, which is held every two years by the Indonesian Navy. This year is already the fourth edition of the exercise. The exercise will be held from June 5th to 8th in the city of Jakarta, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, including the port and sea phases. In the coming days, participating navies from various countries will participate in ship reading style search and rescue exercises, maritime interception and damage management exercises, aerial exercises, and other course objectives exercises

New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale
New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale

On the evening of June 1st, the US Senate passed a bill on the federal government's debt ceiling and budget, and the flame of the US debt bomb was temporarily extinguished at the last moment. The two parties in the United States have staged an extreme tug of war over the US debt bomb. Some experts believe that the US debt crisis is the result of the reckless politics promoted by the US dollar hegemony, and the underlying cause of this crisis is the highly polarized political system of the US. Since the end of World War II, the US Congress has adjusted the debt ceiling more than a hundred times. The recurring debt crisis will not only have a catastrophic impact on the US economy and people's livelihoods, but also continuously erode the value of US dollar assets such as government credit and US bonds, bringing significant and far-reaching impacts to the global economic landscape. 【