China Zhongding Sealing to Make Parts for Volkswagen

Chinese rubber processor Zhongding Sealing Parts has won a contract to make electric vehicle parts for Volkswagen’s joint venture in China.

The Anhui province-based firm will produce vibration-damping chassis products for Volkswagen’s new MEB platform for battery-driven vehicles, it said in a statement yesterday. The German marque makes cars in China through FAW-Volkswagen Automobile, a partnership with domestic manufacturer FAW Group.

The MEB, or Modularer Elektrobaukasten, is a modular chassis designed by Volkswagen specifically for electric cars. Its other China joint venture, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, unveiled plans last month to splurge CNY17 billion (USD2.5 billion) on a factory in Shanghai, which will be Volkswagen’s first production base built specifically with the MEB in mind.

Zhongding hopes to begin production as soon as possible and is excited about expanding in to the new-energy vehicle market, it added. The sector is potentially sitting on the brink of a boom as governments in some of the world’s largest carmakers, including China, look to phase out production and sales of combustion engine vehicles.

The firm has been actively moving into parts manufacturing for electric cars, and already lists brands like Tesla, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and China’s Geely among its clients. It has also worked with lithium battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world’s largest EV cell maker in the world.