It’s no secret Volkswagen has been having trouble in the North American market. However, the world’s largest automaker continues to thrive in China where it is the number one automaker. There, Volkswagen offers a dizzying array of vehicles, many of which are exclusive to China.
Volkswagen started producing cars in China in 1984 with the Passat-derived Santana, entering into joint ventures with domestic automakers SAIC Motor and First Auto Works. Since then, Volkswagen has been one of the dominant players in the Chinese market and narrowly beat GM for overall market share last year with 4.18 million cars sold. While Volkswagen has lost some ground recently in China, it is rebounding.
The original Passat-based Santana was manufactured all the way until 2012. Thereafter, the Santana name shifted to the A05 platform used by the Skoda Rapid.
Although the old Santana’s wagon variant no longer exists, there is a hatchback called the Gran Santana. Its styling is largely similar to the handsome Skoda Rapid, while the sedan resembles the Vento sold in Mexico and the Virtus sold in Brazil.
Volkswagen may have developed Americanized variants of the Jetta and Passat for North America but that pales in comparison to their efforts in the larger Chinese car market. As well as the Santana and Gran Santana, there are the Lavida, Gran Lavida, Lamando, New Bora, and Phideon, as well as a unique Chinese Jetta.
That’s in addition to almost the entire global Volkswagen sedan range. China is the only market to receive both the European-designed Passat (“Magotan”) and the US-designed one. It still has the Phaeton, while also offering the Jetta (“Sagitar”).
All the sedans are manufactured locally bar the Phaeton; imports are limited mostly to vans and hatchbacks. The range opens with the Mk5 Polo-derived New Jetta from FAW-Volkswagen and the Santana from SAIC-Volkswagen. Then there’s the Bora, Lavida and Lavida Classic, all using 1990s and 2000s Golf platforms, all looking much the same, and all selling like gangbusters – the Lavida was the 2nd best-selling car in China last year and the others weren’t far behind. These all undercut the global Jetta-based Sagitar (#10 in 2017), which just undercuts the Lamando. There is an almost inconceivable number of products in Volkswagen’s Chinese range, with a sedan at almost every price point and in every size class. Make that two sedans.
The Lamando is one of the more interesting Chinese Volkswagens, using a modern platform – VW’s new MQB modular platform – and wearing sleeker lines than its boxy cohort. There’s even an aggressive GTS variant featuring the Golf GTI’s 2.0 turbo four.
The Passat and Magotan are priced identically and slot below the CC. The priciest Volkswagen is the Phaeton, which has always been imported from Europe. Even though import duties pushed up the Phaeton’s price considerably, it has still been a steady seller for Volkswagen in China. There was, however, a huge gap in price between it and the CC, which led Volkswagen to introduce the Phideon in 2016.
Based on the just-superseded Audi A6 and using the Chinese A6L’s extended 118.5-inch wheelbase, the Phideon is a sleek flagship sedan priced against the extended-wheelbase versions of the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Eschewing the large, inefficient engines formerly available in the Phaeton, the Phideon offers Chinese buyers two powerplants: Volkswagen’s ubiquitous 2.0 TSI turbo four and a supercharged 3.0 V6.
Yes, China is full of extended-wheelbase luxury sedans. In addition to the Cadillac ATS-L, there are also stretched versions of the aforementioned German luxury sedans, their smaller counterparts, as well as the Volvo S60 and S90 and Jaguar XF. Many Chinese car buyers are driven around and place priority on comfortable rear seating and luxury car brands have been happy to respond.
That demand for spacious, luxurious sedans also led Citroen to develop a new generation of C6. Alas, it resembles its avant-garde predecessor in name only. Now a rather dreary three-box sedan, the new C6 is little more than a restyled Dongfeng Fengshen A9.
At least it gets a nicer interior. The C6’s dashboard is blocky and plain to the point of looking retro, although certainly not retro Citroen. There are some interesting textures, patterns and colors inside and the digital gauge cluster even displays a strip-style speedometer. Otherwise the C6 is unremarkable, using PSA’s new EMP2 modular platform and 1.6 and 1.8 turbocharged fours.
Intriguing interior aside, the C6 is a bland flagship for a Chinese Citroen range lacking in spunk. The latest, funkiest Citroens, like the Cactus and new C3, aren’t sold in China (yet). Instead, there are bland, three-box versions of old C4s, as well as the ageing C5. The brand has been struggling lately in China due to the lack of crossovers – they only had the Chinese-exclusive C3 XR – but the recent introduction of the characterful new, global C5 Aircross (above) should help turn the tide.
PSA would also like its premium DS brand to receive a boost. It has invested in Chinese-exclusive models for it, including the 4S. Meanwhile, the iPhone is up to version 10…
The 4S hatch is attractive in the vein of a Mercedes A-Class or BMW 1-Series but hatchbacks are nowhere near as popular with traditional buyers as sedans, nor as popular with young people as crossovers. To that end, PSA also introduced a 4S sedan known as the 5LS…
…as well as a crossover known as the 6WR. DS is still finding its groove design-wise; their vehicles are attractive but fairly forgettable, but for a slate of relatively interesting and colorful interiors.
Mercedes is launching a more conventionally styled sedan in its A range of vehicles, to complement the CLA. BMW has beaten them to the punch with the Chinese 1-Series sedan, developed with BMW’s joint venture partner Brilliance and using BMW’s new, front-wheel-drive UKL platform. It looks exactly like what you’d expect a 1-Series sedan to look like, inside and out.
A little more surprising is BMW Brilliance’s new brand, Zinoro, which specializes in electric vehicles. There are just two Zinoros at present and, naturally, both are crossovers: the 1E is a pure electric vehicle based on the old, RWD BMW X1, while the 60H is a plug-in hybrid based on the Chinese long-wheelbase version of the new, FWD BMW X1.
Interestingly, the 60H uses the same drivetrain as the X1 xDrive 25Le: a 136 hp 1.5 turbo four mated to a 15 hp electric motor. While it may seem pointless to rebadge the X1, BMW Brilliance’s creation of a new brand is in response to subsidies offered by the Chinese government towards consumers for purchasing electric and hybrid vehicles. These subsidies are available only to cars from a Chinese brand, made in China.
The other European brands are following Volkswagen’s lead and deploying new products for a huge and increasingly influential market. In the next instalment, we’ll look at what the Japanese and Koreans are doing in China.
Related Reading:
Missing Out? The American-Branded Cars You Can Only Buy In China
I suppose this is due to design convergence from aerodynamics, but it strikes me that these cars all look basically the same. Surface textures are all that set them apart, and not really all that much.
A common explanation for the convergence of worldwide automotive to similar styling themes and to very common appearances is that this is being forced upon automakers by mandatory adherence to legislated regulations and to the dictates of aerodynamics.
So then think momentarily about the wide and huge variations in appearances of flying avians/birds and even flying mammals though they comply to similar aerodynamic needs for flight efficiencies. Also think about the hydrodynamic forces on fish and swimming mammals, and then you are amazed to see the wide varieties of evolutionary shapes and forms all maximizing hydrodynamic efficiencies in swimming.
Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic efficiencies were achieved in evolution with the huge array of widely differing sizes, shapes, and forms of fishes and birds seen throughout nature. So forces other than simple aerodynamics are acting on the worldwide convergence of boring, even repetitive design.
Also think about the wide, seemingly endless variety of coloration of animals throughout nature, and contrast that with the now almost universal limited common colors of cars.
Perhaps the developing worldwide corporate risk averse mindset and the boring, fundamentally conservative mindset of many consumers are the real culprits.
Look at the negative reaction of journalists and many CC’ers to the new styling directions of Toyota and even to Mazda’s efforts and you might have an insight to why risk averse automakers develop more look-a-like bland offering.
The result: most customers buy boring, safe, innocuous, almost mindless, repetitive designs with the typically boring most common white, silver, or black exterior colors with the occasional reds, blues, and golds–in actuality color variations have become fewer on the road based on consumer preferences, even if more colors (usually not ordered, neglected) are available on the order palette.
The breathtaking variety of daring colors and shapes seen in the 1950’s are a distant memory, not chosen now by the majority of fundamentally conservative consumers worldwide.
Hate to say it but for most people, cars are a necessary appliance, no longer a sex object or equivalent excitement. Driving for most is the equivalent of driving an appliance, like driving a refrigerator. That may be the current zeitgeist for most drivers, while most CC’er reminisce about cars and days gone by.
So, you and I may be see the result of this in the boring array of cars available in China, and similarly seemingly elsewhere in the world. Just a thought.
So well put. Bravo, sir.
…as you sow also shall you reap. Consumers have the choice and final say in the market. Not buying something is just as powerful a message as can be made. So long as consumers buy bland, boring look-alike vehicles in bland, boring colors, manufacturers will fulfill their orders. If you want to see more daring cars, trucks, and SUVs, demand it with your business, not your wishes. Buy a funky colored car. Drive a SUV that looks “different”. Be the change.
Edsel Ford once was asked why Lincoln stopped producing its magnificent classic KB custom bodied cars? Edsel was reported to have said words to the effect, “We (Lincoln) didn’t stop making them, people stopped buying them”.
So, Mr. JFrank, your insight and your advice are very likely correct and spot-on. To eliminate blandness, we, the customers, have to buy “different”, and choose daring or different colors, otherwise we should stop bitching about “blandness”.
You are so right, we have met the blandness enemy, and it is us. We, the customers, are the problem and, at the same time, the solution. So Bravo, in return.
Another thought. We are living through one of history’s revolutions, this being the internet one. The world has moved in ways unimaginable just 15-odd years ago, and it is far from over. In times of turmoil, people cling to the known. No ordinary soul is game to crawl out on a limb – indeed, it’s the new limb-crawlers like Musk who disturb our certainties!
So conservatism, retreat, and caution prevail. We’re far more inclined to loosen the tie, buy a be-finned behemoth in pink if our world is secure, and known, and predictable.
It sounds a bit silly, perhaps, but it is reflected right across the spectrum of consumer behaviour, from architecture to clothing. To use the Chinese curse, we live in interesting times, and for security and comfort, our daily choices aren’t.
It is indeed us who stopped buying ’em.
I wonder of the Chinese VW’s are an unreliable as they are in the US.
whoops
I wonder if the Chinese VW’s are as unreliable as they are in the US.
While VW has several more models in China than they have in North America, it sounds like their lineup closely mirrors Europe “with a sedan at every price point”, though in Europe I would suppose it would be a sedan OR hatchback.
CAR magazine recently printed a graph showing the top 10 car manufacturing groups in the world by sales. Renault/Nissan is at number 1 thanks to an “assist” from Mitsubishi. VW is number 2 when you include all the different brands. Suzuki is number 10. Suzuki’s biggest market isn’t China, it’s India.
BTW, GM is number 4 with nearly 20% fewer cars sold than Toyota at number 3. Ford is number 6 behind Hyundai-Kia.
All of those VWs are China only. VW’s model strategy in Europe is quite coherent in fact, unlike that of Mercedes. It seems VW is rather taking a page from the latter in the Middle Empire.
Mind-boggling and bewildering. There was a point where I thought I might want to try to keep up with the Chinese market, but I wisely decided not to. These articles have really reinforced that decision.
It all seems to be happening in China these days. The rest of the world is being left behind.
China manufactured the MK2 Jetta up until around 2013. So a 30 year run in total. Big help for me are far as finding still available parts at a reasonable cost to keep my ’86 on the road.
https://ranwhenparked.net/2013/05/21/botoxed-in-china-volkswagen-jetta-mk2/china-volkswagen-jetta-mk1-1/
While this shows the breadth of scope of variety in models available in China, it also foreshadows how China will treat the market as it matures there. By starting off with only joint ventures, they got the foreign brands in, but with some local control. Now, they are slowly starting to legislate to make the local brands more competitive from subsidies to consumers. By mandating that the EV/Hybrid subsidies go to only domestic Chinese brands, they slowly dilute the power of the joint venture brands. We have seen this with other industry, and will probably see this with the auto industry. They bring in expertise, then take over and run out the companies that brought the industry to them. Had this been a case of companies bringing in CKD kits for local assembly, like they did in emerging markets in the 50s and 60s like Brazil, then there would not be a significant Chinese auto industry, just a large market for cars, had the party allowed for it. Instead, they have the most current manufacturing techniques and plants, plus management and development expertise that they would have needed generations to build up internally. I have to congratulate them for being able to pull it off successfully.
It’s easy for them to pull it off thanks to the greed, cynicism and short sightedness of lauded Western elites – including politicians, executives and major shareholders.
Exactly, and now, with them building stakes in Daimler to go with their outright ownership of Volvo, they are slowly draining more expertise while gaining market footholds via partnerships. I don’t hold xenophobic views, and competition is a good thing, but only when the field is level. In China, it is not. It never is. Can a country known for flouting intellectual property from foreign sources be trusted to compete fairly and benevolently in foreign markets?
Nativists might not like it, but China, with its 1.4 billion inhabitants and prospective car buyers, is going to be more and more influential in the worldwide auto market. The potential market there is just so huge. Manufacturers can offer many unique models to penetrate various niches and still be profitable. The upside is tremendous, for both the Chinese motorist and the manufacturer, Detroit included. A wild card in this scenario would be future U.S. tariff policy. Punitive tariffs with retaliatory responses by the Chinese would put Detroit in a poor position to compete there with the Europe and Japan.
These Chinese Citroens are very boring, in Brazil we have the Corolla fighter C4 Lounge and despiste the good 1.6 turbo engine is very bland for a Citroen. I miss the wacky days from Citroen, with original itens like the first gen C4 fixed steering wheel hub or the hydropneumatic suspension from the big ones.
Nowadays the most original car in the Citroen lineup is the C4 Catus with those airbumps and the lightweight construction.
Bring back the wacky Citroens!
Hydropnuematic went the way of the dinosaur quite a while ago, my 03 MK1 C5 has the computer controlled hydra active which replaced the older system still unparalled in ride comfort and it lowers the ride height at speed on smooth roads automatically and raises it at low speed on rough roads, you still press the buttons and put it down in the weeds while stopped or raise it right up for servicing, but press the remote to unlock it and you can hear the pump set the ride height as you walk up to the car, Oh and it doesnt sink if you leave it parked for a few days.
Part of the reason VW has so many different models in China is that VW has two partners and each partner wants a model similar to everything the other partner has.
SUVs are also rapidly gaining share in China and starting to wag the Wolfsburg dog. Instead of the T-Roc, the US is slated to get a different SUV slotted below the Tiguan.
The new model is being developed in China. It was originally intended to be a China only product, but, since Americans are demanding SUVs in every size, VW has decided to produce it in Puebla for North America. It, like the recently introduced Mk 7 Jetta, will not be offered in Europe.
The official drawing provided by VW appears to put the new model between the Renegade and Compass, both in styling and size.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20180316/COPY01/303169967/volkswagen-suv-crossover-china-usa-tiguan