2010-06-10 11:09

Keeping workers

"To keep good workers, the company has to raise pay," said Koji Endo, a Tokyo-based analyst at Advanced Research Japan.

Volkswagen, which will employ 4,000 workers in Foshan by 2013, will build a full assembly plant on the 170-hectare site, including a press shop, body shop, paint shop and assembly unit, the carmaker said.

China is critical to Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn's goal of surpassing Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest carmaker, in sales and profitability by 2018.

"China has become the Volkswagen's largest and most important sales market," Winterkorn said, "We intend to continue above-average growth."

Volkswagen, the largest overseas carmaker in China, currently produces 20 VW, Audi and Skoda brand models in the country.

The carmaker will introduce seven new or locally modified models for the Chinese market this year and double the models it sells in the country by 2012.

VW, the first automaker to enter China three decades ago, said sales in the country through the end of May gained 48 percent to a record 778,000 vehicles.

Volkswagen's preferred stock fell 3 cents to 69.15 euros in Frankfurt on Wednesday, valuing the carmaker at 31.4 billion euros.

Bloomberg News