Hyperdrive
Volkswagen Pulls Out All the Stops to Address China Challenges
The German manufacturer long dominated the world’s biggest car market, but local rivals are catching up fast.
The wheel hub of a Volkswagen ID.5 electric vehicle.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
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On April 11, 1983 in Shanghai, Volkswagen and its local partner assembled their first car in China, a boxy sedan called Santana. The model proved wildly popular, becoming a symbol of China’s rising middle class and cementing VW’s role as the country’s most prominent carmaker.