VW's Skoda Auto eyes 2 bn euro investment in China
(PRAGUE) - Top Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, a unit of Germany's Volkswagen, and the Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corporation plan to invest two billion euros ($2.3 billion) in China over five years, an agreement signed Wednesday said.
The deal was inked during a landmark visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Czech capital Prague.
For Skoda Auto, which produced a record 1,055,500 cars in 2015, the investment "will involve expanding the model range and investing in pioneering automotive technologies," the company said in a statement.
"Our aim is to double Skoda deliveries in China by 2020," said Bernhard Maier, the chief executive of Skoda Auto.
The carmaker delivered 281,700 vehicles to the Chinese market in 2015.
Alongside TPCA, a joint venture between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Toyota, and South Korea's Hyundai, Skoda is one of the major engines of the Czech economy.
The EU member of 10.5 million people saw its GDP expand by 4.3 percent in 2015, thanks mainly to car production and exports to the eurozone.
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