SHANGHAI, China — Shanghai Volkswagen, the venture between Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., rolled out the first locally designed Lavida sedan over the weekend. The Lavida, which means "life" in Spanish, will be equipped with a 2.0- or 1.6-liter engine and priced starting at $16,430.
The car will be used for VW's Olympic fleet, and another 2,008 Lavidas, specially designed for the Beijing Olympic Games, will also be available.
Joint ventures in China, struggling in a highly competitive market, have been speeding up the development of self-branded models, aiming to sharpen their competitive edge by meeting local tastes with global technology and local designs.
The Lavida is expected to rival General Motors' Buick Excelle, PSA's Peugeot 307 and Toyota's Corolla in China.
Pre-sales of Lavida have exceeded 30,000 orders since the car debuted at the Beijing Auto Show in April. With the help of this and other new models, Shanghai VW aims to lift its sales by 20 percent to 525,000 this year. The joint venture will also build and market the Fabia compact car under VW's Czech brand, Skoda, later this year.
The launch of the Lavida came after the Chinese central government called on domestic carmakers to enhance their research and development strength with the aim of expanding overseas and helping grow the domestic industry.
What this means to you: China's joint ventures will be rolling out more self-developed models over the next two years. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent
The car will be used for VW's Olympic fleet, and another 2,008 Lavidas, specially designed for the Beijing Olympic Games, will also be available.
Joint ventures in China, struggling in a highly competitive market, have been speeding up the development of self-branded models, aiming to sharpen their competitive edge by meeting local tastes with global technology and local designs.
The Lavida is expected to rival General Motors' Buick Excelle, PSA's Peugeot 307 and Toyota's Corolla in China.
Pre-sales of Lavida have exceeded 30,000 orders since the car debuted at the Beijing Auto Show in April. With the help of this and other new models, Shanghai VW aims to lift its sales by 20 percent to 525,000 this year. The joint venture will also build and market the Fabia compact car under VW's Czech brand, Skoda, later this year.
The launch of the Lavida came after the Chinese central government called on domestic carmakers to enhance their research and development strength with the aim of expanding overseas and helping grow the domestic industry.
What this means to you: China's joint ventures will be rolling out more self-developed models over the next two years. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent
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