Two major carmakers to launch ELEVEN new models next year with huge line up unveiled as part of ‘strategic agreement’

TWO major carmakers have unveiled 11 fresh motors which will be released in 2026.

Volkswagen and Jetta will design the vehicles exclusively for the Chinese market.

Six of those cars will be EVs while two will be plug-in hybrids.

The remainder will comprise two extended-rangers and one gasoline motor.

A Jetta-branded EV model will be the first to hit the market in 2026 as it aims to address its declining market share in the east Asian country.

Volkswagen suffered a 9.5% sales slump in China where competition has intensified and economic headwinds are weighing on consumer spending.

The new technology set up, exclusively tailored to China, will enable the company’s joint ventures to respond more quickly and “effectively to new customer requirements and market changes in the future,” Volkswagen’s China head Ralf Brandstaetter said in the statement.

Tech is a core focus for the automaker’s plans in China, and it’s already partnering with Xpeng Inc. on software and ultra-fast charging. Volkswagen is targeting sales of 4 million vehicles annually in China by 2030.

It’s set to roll out approximately 40 new models between 2025 and 2027, more than half of which will be EVs.

CHINA COMPETITION

China has long been leader in the EV market, which some experts suggest is down to car manufacturers working faster to produce affordable cars.

“Chinese brands are super competitive. For example, you can already pick up a new MG5 today for under £20,000 by shopping around.

“Where will they be in three years’ time? VW really has its work cut out,” a car expert told The Telegraph.

One such car manufacturer is BYD, which beat Tesla in UK sales last month.

But according to Quentin Wilson, whose company Fair Charge is campaigning for the country’s cheap transfer to EVs, VW’s newest model will be a “possible China EV killer”.

VW CEO Thomas Schäfer said the new model is “an affordable, high-quality, profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe, for Europe”.

Volkswagen is already well positioned in the field of all-electric battery electric vehicles (BEV), he added.

Since the launch of the ID. product family in 2019, the brand has sold more than 1.35 million ID. vehicles throughout the world, including about 500,000 ID.3.

Last year, the company sold 383,100 all-electric vehicles.

This follows the carmaker’s earlier plans to axe 35,000 jobs by 2023, following a slow in demand for EVs in Europe.

The number of cars sold across Europe fell a whopping three percent, down to 3million during 2024, according to reports.

Experts in the industry put this decline down to cost, adding cheaper cars will likely see a massive uptick in purchases.

Threats to shut some of the company’s factories in Germany ensued, prompting 100,000 VW workers to walk out in protest.

This comes as defence chiefs were ordered to stop talking in electric cars over fears their Chinese makers will eavesdrop.

In an exclusive report yesterday, The Sun detailed growing fears that inbuilt microphones can rec­ord and transmit conversations, risking national security.

The MoD has leased hundreds of Chinese electric vehicles to try to meet Net Zero targets.

And they have ordered thousands more under plans to clean up its fleet of 12,000 civilian vehicles within two years.

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