Shanghai VW Automotive Co. will soon make an electric car in China. Its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that this vehicle won’t be sold under the Volkswagen brand but instead will be offered under the new Tantus brand of this 50-50 joint venture between SAIC Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG. The plans that Shanghai VW had for the Tantus EV were disclosed by the ministry as it released information about the newest batch of motor vehicles that has been approved for production in China. The new brand Tantus will be the property of Shanghai Volkswagen instead of SAIC or Volkswagen. This is the first EV that Shanghai Volkswagen will produce. It’s also the first vehicle that will be offered by the joint venture under its own brand. The complete details about the EV have not yet been made available. Last May, the ministry announced that an electric vehicle will be produced by Volkswagen’s other Chinese joint venture, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co.
This EV will be built for the Kalil brand that the partnership has recently formed. Based in the northeast China city of Changchun, FAW-Volkswagen is a 60:40 joint venture between China FAW Group Corp. and Volkswagen. Last week, SAIC inked a deal last week with its other joint venture partner, General Motors Co., to collaborate in the development of EVs for China.
