Volkswagens são populares na China. A fabricante vendeu 3,1 milhões de carros no país no ano passado, o que fez do mercado chinês o mais importante para a VW no mundo. Para expandir os negócios por lá, a Volks anuncia o lançamento da submarca Jetta. Para quem não sabe, o antigo Jetta de segunda geração se tornou a cara da marca para os chineses. Agora, a VW vai aproveitar essa identidade num novo nível.
"Na China, o Jetta tem um extremo valor como produto para a Volkswagen", disse Jürgen Stackmann, membro do board da VW responsável por vendas. "Ele significou a mobilidade para as massas, assim como o Beetle (Fusca) fez na Europa. O Jetta colocou a China sobre quatro rodas. Até hoje é um dos modelos mais populares da marca, um verdadeiro ícone. Por isso que vamos transformar um modelo em uma marca pela primeira vez na história da VW e criar uma linha separada de produtos”.
Galeria: Marca Jetta na China
Enquanto a maioria das montadoras é relativamente nova na China, o Grupo VW atua no país desde 1985. A segunda geração do Jetta começou a ser produzida localmente em 1991 por meio da parceria FAW-Volkswagen e assim se manteve até 2010, com direito a vários facelifts.
Agora como marca, a Jetta vai fabricar um sedã e dois SUVs produzidos pela FAW-Volkswagen e vendidos por meio de uma nova rede de concessionários em aproximadamente 200 localidades. Além das lojas tradicionais, o plano da nova empresa inclui showrooms digitais e pontos em shoppings. A estreia será no último trimestre deste ano.
Fonte: Volkswagen
JETTA to become new brand of Volkswagen in China
With the new JETTA Brand, Volkswagen intends to exploit its market potential in China even more effectively. In many cities with millions of people outside the metropolitan regions such as Beijing or Shanghai, vehicle ownership levels are still very low, in some cases below 100 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. At the same time, members of a growing middle class are striving for individual mobility with the first car of their own. With the new JETTA brand, Volkswagen especially intends to target these young Chinese customers. The JETTA model range, which is to be produced by FAW-Volkswagen in Chengdu, will include one sedan and two SUVs. Sales are scheduled to start in the third quarter of this year.
Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management responsible for Sales, says: “With JETTA, we are closing the gap between the established VW lead brand in the top volume segment and entry-level mobility, which accounts for about one third of the Chinese market and is served mainly by local brands. This way, we will significantly increase our market coverage.”
JETTA is based on the key elements of the Volkswagen DNA: quality, safety, value and a clear design language. With the introduction of JETTA, the Volkswagen umbrella brand will be able to position itself even more clearly as “top of volume” with its vehicles and to further sharpen its profile. In addition, with this offering specially tailored to the needs of the Chinese market and developed together with FAW-Volkswagen, Volkswagen is forging ahead with the further regionalization of the market.
Stackmann: “In China, the Jetta plays an extremely valuable role for us as a Volkswagen model. It has brought mobility for the masses, just like the Beetle once did in Europe. Developed by Volkswagen and built in China, the Jetta China has placed China on four wheels. To this day, it is one of Volkswagen’s most popular models in China – a real icon. This is why we are transforming a model into a brand for the first time in the history of Volkswagen and establishing a separate model and brand family.”
New approaches are also to be adopted in sales. JETTA will establish its own network of dealerships and will approach customers directly with innovative sales formats – digital showrooms, shopping malls and mobile sales trucks. By year end, about 200 dealers are to offer the new brand.
In China, the Volkswagen brand delivered 3.11 million vehicles to customers last year (down 2.1 percent on the previous year). With a share of almost 50 percent in worldwide deliveries, China is therefore Volkswagen’s largest single market. In a market affected by an overall fall in sales (-4.6 percent compared with the previous year), Volkswagen was able to win market shares. In 2018, Volkswagen also delivered the 30 millionth Volkswagen to a Chinese customer. Since Volkswagen came to China more than 30 years ago, the brand has clearly asserted its number one position. China is not only the world’s largest automobile market but is also at the forefront of the greatest transformation ever experienced by the automotive industry. The country is the new powerhouse for e-mobility, digitalization, connectivity and autonomous driving.