Passat, a representative model for early public and commercial use.
For SAIC Volkswagen, Santana’s success has been localized, the market scale has stabilized, and consumer demand has emerged. With the development of the national economy, the market demand for mid-to high-end cars has begun to appear. At this time, Passat, a foreign Volkswagen, has become famous and popular in the global market. He shared the platform with Audi, designed to make streamline return to automobile fashion, and technically adopted water-cooled front-engine to become one of the most advanced cars in Europe at that time.
On December 15th, 1999, the first Passat car of SAIC Volkswagen rolled off the assembly line.
So SAIC Volkswagen locked this B-class car. On December 15th, 1999, the first Passat car rolled off the assembly line and was officially launched in 2000. Passat brings a new idea to the market. It has a dynamic appearance, organically combines aerodynamics and automobile aesthetics, and the drag coefficient is only 0.28cd, which greatly reduces wind noise, improves driving stability and is economical and fuel-efficient.
SAIC Volkswagen Passat was listed in 2000.
In addition, the size of domestic Passat was upgraded for the first time, and the length and wheelbase of the car body were increased, which improved the rear row space and started the trend of longer wheelbase in China market. He also achieved success, selling more than 400,000 vehicles in five years. At that time, there was a tidal wave in China, and many people did business. "How many Passats did you earn this year?" It became a classic joke among businessmen at that time, and Passat became a representative model of domestic commercial vehicles in the early days of listing.
On November 24th, 2005, SAIC Volkswagen Passat was listed.
With the introduction of Passat, SAIC Volkswagen built a brand-new automobile factory, which brought cutting-edge technologies such as cavity wax injection, laser welding and turbocharging to China, and the manufacturing technology reached the world advanced level. At the same time, SAIC Volkswagen has always adhered to the development route of independent research and development, and has sent technical backbones abroad for many times. In 1997, SAIC Volkswagen invested more than 3 billion yuan to build a technical center with a trial-production test base and a professional car test site. It can be said that Passat is also a sign that SAIC Volkswagen has started localization research and development.
In 2012, the seventh generation Passat (B7) of SAIC Volkswagen was listed in China.
In 2024, SAIC Volkswagen launched a new generation of Passat Pro with the same intelligence as oil and electricity.
After Passat went on the market, it continuously changed its models and made a successful continuation. In 2005, Passat Lingyu, a new generation Passat in 2011, and Passat with "double front face" in 2021 went to the market one after another, and all the models were classic. What’s more rare is that it has always been among the best in the sales of medium-sized cars. On the occasion of 40 years of SAIC Volkswagen, Passat was upgraded to a new Passat Pro in September this year, which opened a new era of Passat’s "oil and electricity with wisdom".
After the integration of production and marketing, the boutique car Polo went on the market.
At the same time that Passat went public, SAIC Volkswagen listed and established Shanghai SAIC Volkswagen Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., which started the construction of an integrated marketing system of production and sales. At the beginning of the establishment of the joint venture company, both Chinese and German shareholders agreed that SAIC Volkswagen would be responsible for the production and after-sales, and the products would be exclusively distributed by the Chinese shareholder SAIC for a period of ten years. This mode of separation of production and marketing was the choice under the background of that time.
On October 19th, 2000, the signing ceremony of Shanghai SAIC Volkswagen Sales Co., Ltd.
After the separation of production and marketing expired, the domestic automobile market began to shift from "seller’s market" to "buyer’s market". In response to this change, both Chinese and German shareholders decided to jointly set up a sales joint venture to undertake the general distribution business of SAIC Volkswagen products and develop towards the integration of production and sales. With the establishment of the sales joint venture company, SAIC Volkswagen integrated the sales network with the after-sales service network, implemented the franchise mode, and established a market-oriented, complete business process and fully functional 4S shop marketing service system.
On April 8, 2002, Polo was listed in China.
Subsequently, SAIC Volkswagen gained insight into the growing demand for cars for individuals and families and introduced Polo. During this period, SAIC Volkswagen sent 40 engineers to Volkswagen in Germany for a three-year training in the whole process of automobile development, and participated in the development of Polo in the whole process, which laid a solid foundation for SAIC Volkswagen to realize the international synchronous production and listing of Polo.
Polo’s listing comes at a time when the business model of 4S stores is becoming more and more perfect.
Polo was listed in 2002. At that time, the Volkswagen brand had a solid reputation in the domestic market. With its fashionable appearance and solid quality, Polo became a boutique car in consumers’ hearts and was loved by many young consumers with quality requirements. The slogan "r u Polo(are you Polo)" when he first went public still makes me remember it vividly.
The sedan version of Polo was named Jinqu at the beginning of its listing (at that time, the sedan version was called Jinqing)
Polo is not as popular as Passat and other models after it was introduced into China, but it has always been the label of boutique cars, and it has also undergone changes in different periods. In order to cater to household needs, it has also introduced sedan models. In recent years, with the rise of new energy vehicles and the sharp increase of consumers’ demand for big cars and large spaces, small cars have gradually declined, and the popularity of Polo has gradually decreased.
Langyi creates the era of national sedan chair
LaVida is one of the most successful models in China market. It not only marks the success of the localized research and development of SAIC Volkswagen, but also accurately grasps the consumer demand in China market. After Santana, Passat and Polo were launched one after another, SAIC Volkswagen gained sales volume and brand reputation, also achieved a high degree of localization, and its independent research and development capability developed rapidly, so it began to target the compact sedan market suitable for China family consumers.
Nezha Neeza concept car is the prototype of LaVida.
Therefore, led by China design team, the Lavida project independently developed by SAIC Volkswagen entered the market research period of more than two years, and the predecessor concept car Nezha Neeza was launched at the Beijing Auto Show in 2006, which attracted great attention. Lavida was officially listed two years later.
Lavida was listed on June 25th, 2008.
LaVida not only has the exquisite craftsmanship and advanced technology of the public, but also meets the needs of consumers for family cars in design and space. During the R&D process, SAIC-Volkswagen has carried out more than 1,200 bench tests, with engine test time exceeding 10,000 hours and vehicle road test mileage reaching 4.5 million kilometers, ensuring reliability and durability in various use scenarios.
LaVida has always been selling well after continuous model changes.
Langlang, a derivative of LaVida.
Indeed, China people know China people best. On LaVida, SAIC Volkswagen’s R&D team followed the German Volkswagen’s high-standard technical requirements, and at the same time integrated the car demand of China consumers into product design, which was very in line with the appetite of China consumers. After listing, the response was enthusiastic, and it was in the forefront of the car market sales list for a long time, opening the road to a generation of magical cars.
On July 20th, 2015, the brand new LaVida family of SAIC Volkswagen Volkswagen was listed.
The success of LaVida has undoubtedly greatly increased the confidence of SAIC Volkswagen. With the strong momentum of LaVida, SAIC Volkswagen subsequently launched brand-new LaVida, Langxing, Langjing, LaVida cutting-edge and related derivative models, and the models have been constantly changed to adapt to the market and built the LaVida family series. Since its listing in 2008, the overall sales volume of the LaVida family has exceeded 5 million, which is an amazing achievement.
Volkswagen’s SUV has finally arrived.
At the same time as LaVida was launched, the SUV boom has quietly emerged, and SUVs have more space and better passability. At that time, joint venture SUVs recognized by consumers like CR-V had reached the point of raising prices to pick up cars. At this time, Volkswagen’s brand reputation is also at its peak, and many people are looking forward to Volkswagen’s SUV.
Tiguan was imported and sold before Tiguan was made in China.
In 2007, Volkswagen introduced the Tiguan model based on PQ35 platform, which was not only popular overseas, but also concerned by consumers in China. Tiguan was briefly imported and sold before it was made in China, but the price was high. At that time, the rapid growth of SUV market made SAIC Volkswagen determined to introduce production, so in 2010, Tiguan of SAIC Volkswagen finally came.
SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan is Volkswagen’s first SUV in China.
Tiguan is equipped with a turbocharged engine.
SAIC Volkswagen does not simply introduce the overseas version directly, but adheres to the concept of building products from the needs of users, and has equipped Tiguan with many forward-looking and practical configurations, such as full-range turbocharged engines, openable skylights, longer wheelbase, etc., and its competitiveness is ahead of the same level. Sure enough, Tiguan quickly detonated the market after listing and became one of the best-selling joint venture brand SUVs in China.
Tiguan’s derivative crossover model Tiguan X
The wheelbase of the second generation Tiguan was lengthened again and named Tiguan L.
Subsequently, in order to maintain the market vitality and competitiveness of the products, SAIC-Volkswagen continued to upgrade Tiguan repeatedly, constantly optimizing product performance and configuration. In 2017, the second generation of Tiguan was made in China, the wheelbase was further lengthened and the rear row space was larger, and it was named Tiguan L; In 2018, Tiguan L PHEV was listed in response to the development of electrification.
In 2024, the brand-new Tiguan L Pro opened the era of wisdom of oil and electricity for the public.
In May 2024, Tiguan L Pro, the "smartest fuel vehicle", went on the market, and the new car was fully upgraded in four aspects: intelligent driving, digital cockpit, intelligent car coupling and intelligent lighting, which opened the era of SAIC Volkswagen’s "oil and electricity with wisdom", and we also reported it. Starting from Tiguan, SAIC Volkswagen has successively launched SUV models such as Tuyue Family, Tuang Family, ID.4 X and ID.6 X, covering various market segments.
