Photo: Lu Ting/GT

Foreign executives from global auto brands flew into Shanghai for the auto show on Tuesday to present their latest technologies, debut new models and announce strategic plans for China, demonstrating confidence in the world's largest automobile market.

As the first heavyweight economic and trade event in Shanghai after China optimized its COVID-19 approach, the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition came back on a larger scale and attracted global executives from Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz to visit the exhibition onsite with interviews fully booked and booths filled with visitors.

The Volkswagen Group announced plans on Tuesday to invest 10 billion euros ($10.95 billion) to set up a new company in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province to speed up research and development (R&D) and innovation on intelligent and connected electric vehicles.

The new company, with the project name 100%TechCo, will cut development times for new products and technologies by about 30 percent, Ralf Brandstätter, chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, told the Global Times during a group interview on Tuesday.

"The establishment of 100%TechCo is an important step of our 'in China, for China' strategy. By consistently bundling development and procurement capacities as well as integrating local suppliers at an early stage, we will significantly accelerate our development pace. This will also strengthen the efficiency of cooperation for our joint venture and increase our profitability," Brandstätter said.

Photo: Lu Ting/GT

The new unit is expected to be launched in early 2024 and will have more than 2,000 employees from procurement and R&D.

Luxury brands including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are actively embracing China's new-energy wave and accelerating the process of electrification.

Among them, BMW unveiled a lineup of electric vehicles at the Shanghai auto show to meet the needs of Chinese customers in the era of digital electric mobility.

Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of Management of BMW AG, said that the BMW Group is making a strong push in the digital and electric fields, and China will be the vanguard market for BMW's innovation and opening up the future. 

"We will continue to expand our industry chain advantage in China," Zipse said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

BMW is comprehensively upgrading its R&D in China to better meet China's needs and enhance BMW's core competitiveness in the world, according to the group.

Gestamp, a car components company for major vehicle producers, also expressed full confidence in the Chinese market.

"We have passed through COVID, now the customers are confident in spending again. We see that the China market is moving faster than any other market," Antonio Lopez, CEO of Gestamp's Asia division, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Photo: Courtesy of Gestamp

The company is showing products and innovations such as a "power door" that can use intelligent sensor technology that detects obstacles in the vicinity of the door and can stop the door before a collision.

According to Shanghai Customs, 123 batches of imported exhibits amounting to $25 million were declared at the Shanghai auto show this year, up 34 percent and 19 percent from the last edition held in 2021.

More than 100 new cars made their global debuts and more than 1,500 vehicles were put on display in the 360,000-square-meter exhibition hall, offering another sign of the strong rebound and vitality of China's auto market.