Like in the US, diesel is traditionally rather unpopular in China. Actually, all over Asia. In larger Chinese cities diesel vehicles are even denied admission. Meanwhile, incentives for low-emission cars are being extended. Starting this month, there is about a 50 percent tax relief when buying a vehicle with a maximum of 1.6 liters.
So it is not surprising that Volkswagen China announced that so far only 1,946 vehicles could be affected by the manipulation. These are exclusively imports of the VW Tiguan model.
Mistrust of Chinese brands is growing
While VW’s reputation abroad has suffered more or less massive damage, Chinese consumers still trust the Made in Germany label. Above all, the exhaust gas scandal triggered a discussion about the problems of domestic car brands. Many fear that the real scandals are going on in China and, as so often, are not revealed.
Many Chinese people can only smile tiredly about the VW scandal. Chinese consumers are struggling with much more pressing issues: food issues, medical devices, cosmetics, as well as safety and emissions from industrial plants.
Volkswagen in China
VW was a pioneer of the Chinese market and appears in China with its local partners as Shanghai VW and FAW-VW. This is not least due to the still existing compulsion to joint ventures in this industry. Different models are produced with the different partners.
Volkswagen is generally regarded as popular and competitive, even if the state television CCTV already twice warned at its large consumer protection gala 315 before the allegedly bad service of the Wolgsburger. Nevertheless, among the top ten best-selling cars in China, there are several VW models every year. In 2014, despite some technical incidents, a total of almost 3.7 million Volkswagen cars were sold in China – around ten times more than in the US.
