Is the Volkswagen Lavida a Domestic Car?
2 Answers
Volkswagen Lavida is not a domestic car, but a joint-venture car. Introduction to Domestic Cars: Domestic cars refer to vehicles designed, developed, and manufactured by Chinese people, possessing independent intellectual property rights and belonging to Chinese-owned brands, which are considered self-owned brands. Introduction to Joint-Venture Cars: As the name suggests, joint-venture cars are projects jointly established by Chinese and foreign investors. The Chinese side contributes by providing land, factory usage rights, and capital, while the foreign investors contribute brand, technology, capital, talent, etc. Joint-venture cars are the products of such collaborations. The foreign side provides technology, talent, brand, etc., for assembly within the country, but the core technology remains under foreign control.
I've been driving the Volkswagen Lavida for several years. It's indeed a domestic car, produced by SAIC Volkswagen here in China. The German Volkswagen brand provides the design and technology, but the assembly and many components are local, so it's considered a joint-venture domestic model. Many friends mistakenly think it's an imported car, but in fact, the imported version is much more expensive. The domestic version is more affordable and saves on taxes. There are quite a few benefits to buying a Lavida, such as convenient maintenance, readily available parts at 4S shops, and low-cost servicing. After driving it for so long, I feel it's quite stable, has low fuel consumption, and is very suitable for daily family use. In short, localization has made it possible for more people to drive good cars, which is quite cost-effective.
