Sohu Auto: What do you think will be the growth rate of Volkswagen’s sales in China in the whole year? And what is Volkswagen’s sales target in China in 2014?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: The sales volume in China’s passenger vehicles market might hit 20 million by 2020. We want to maintain our 20% market share, so we need a production capacity of 4 million units. In the next 3 years, we will invest nearly 10 billion Euros in China and we plan to increase our capacity to 4 million units by 2018. We will provide more models to Chinese consumers. Shanghai-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkwagen release new models every year and new models are also imported every year.

　　Sohu Auto: What are your plans about Kaili and Tianyue brands of products in the 3 years from 2013 to 2015?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: Our goal is to lead the new energy vehicle market. To us, electric vehicles are crucial. We will introduce more purely electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles into China and begin the mass production of the latter.

　　Sohu Auto: How is the DSG recall going? What is its biggest impact on the public? And what is the feedback from car owners after the recall?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: The DSG recall has been going on smoothly in the past few months. I visited a few dealers and learnt that the feedback from the users was good. To me personally and to Volkswagen in general, customer satisfaction is the most important. We will do everything in our power as long as the customers are satisfied and that we can help them solve problems. We have learnt our lesson. We’ve established a working group to track market reactions and collect information from dealers, so we can react as quickly as possible.

　　Sohu Auto: How is Volkswagen’s plan coming along, you know, the plan about launching cheaper brands in China?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: We are evaluating this market very carefully and a lot of work is being done. We need a very good product to ensure our entry into this niche market. We haven’t made any conclusions yet.

　　Sohu Auto: Recently there has been heated discussion about Volkswagen’s equity in FAW-Volkswagen, how’s that going?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen have had very successful cooperation for a long time, and our joint venture agreement will expire in 2016. A few months ago, we began discussing with them about extending the agreement. It is our strategic objective to expand our cooperation. New areas of cooperation include new products, second-hand vehicles and auto finance. Increasing stock options is just one item on our agenda.

　　Sohu Auto: How do you feel about the Chinese market?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: I feel strongly about 2 things. Firstly, our Chinese employees are very professional and competent, with rich experience. Secondly, the speed of China’s development. Many things are handled much faster than in Europe. I can see change every day. It is a pleasure working in China.

　　Sohu Auto: What is your goal within your term? How do you plan to lead Volkswagen to new heights?

　　Dr. Jochem Heizmann: Volkswagen’s success in the Chinese market can be attributed to 3 factors. Firstly, as the company entered China 30 years ago, it has had sufficient time to get to know the country, laying a solid foundation for its development there. We grow together with the Chinese market.

　　Secondly, Volkswagen has found strong Chinese partners for cooperation. One is SAIC, with whom we established Shanghai-Volkswagen; the other is FAW, with whom we built FAW-Volkswagen.

　　Thirdly, building upon the above 2 factors, we either produce our products locally in China or import them to China.