CHINA - Volkswagen inaugurates new component facility in Northern China.

• Production of energy-efficient transmissions starts in Tianjin
• New gearbox generation in China
• DQ 380 satisfies demands for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies
• 107th Group plant meets highest quality and environmental standards

At its Tianjin components plant in North China, Volkswagen today started production of the latest generation of highly advanced dual-clutch gearboxes (DSG), celebrating a world premiere. Initially, the new Volkswagen plant will have an annual production capacity of 450,000 units, which will be increased to 1.2 million units by 2016. 

By 2019, 5,500 new jobs are to be created in the region. Volkswagen has invested about €265 million (RMB 2.2 billion) in the first stage of the plant. This investment will boost economic growth in Northern China.

Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG responsible for China as well as President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said: "Our investment in the new components plant at Tianjin shows that we are pioneers in reducing fuel consumption with our technologies. Today we are celebrating the start of production of a new gearbox generation which stands for fuel efficiency, quality, vehicle dynamics and comfort".

The new Tianjin plant will produce the modern DQ380 gearbox. In combination with the third generation of the new EA888 engine, which is produced at the engine plants in Changchun and Shanghai, Volkswagen will achieve a consumption reduction of 0.5l/ 100 Km and therefore a CO₂ reduction of 12g/km compared with the previous generation.

As soon as production at Tianjin is running at full capacity, Volkswagen will be able to provide over one million vehicles on China's roads with gearboxes optimized for fuel efficiency in combination with the advanced engines and thus make a significant additional contribution to the reduction of CO₂ emissions_.With about 5,500 new jobs, Volkswagen Automatic Transmission Tianjin is currently the largest investment project in the region. 

The new transmission production company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The dual-clutch gearboxes produced especially for the Chinese market will be used in several Group models in China in the future. The new generation of DSG gearboxes will help Volkswagen become the most sustainable automaker in China by 2018.

Throughout the world, Volkswagen represents environmentally compatible mobility and production as well as sustainable growth. This includes advanced production processes and the consistent reduction of energy consumption and emissions. For example, an advanced water treatment facility that reduces process wastewater by up to 95 percent and also recycles the water has been installed at Tianjin. Furthermore, the heat from spent air is transferred to fresh intake air, halving energy consumption. In addition to the use of natural daylight through light domes, LED lighting in the factory hall also almost halves power consumption for lighting.

Next year, the first Volkswagen Component Academy outside Germany is to be established in Tianjin. The objective of this academy will be to develop dual vocational training for up to 4 vocations based on the German model. 

Vocational school students will receive initial and further training from experts in the relevant fields. In this context, Volkswagen aims to enter into cooperation arrangements with local vocational schools. New talents are to be systematically fostered, laying the foundation for an innovative, sustainable automotive industry in North-East China. 

In the medium term, the Academy will make it possible to meet demand for employees with specialist technical qualifications. "It is of great importance to us that our workers are intensively trained and made aware of environmental issues", underlines Heizmann. "Only the great expertise and excellent qualifications of our workers make the success of our products possible".

A test and analysis centre for all DSG transmissions produced in China is also to be established at Tianjin from 2016 onwards. This will represent a further step in know-how development by Volkswagen in China, with a view to ensuring the sustainable development of the Chinese automotive industry with uniform global quality standards.

The new Volkswagen plant is located in the Tianjin Economic Technological Development Area (TEDA) in North-East China. Tianjin is the 107^th plant of Volkswagen Group – and the Group's 18^th production location in China. This means that the Volkswagen Group is one of the most successful companies in the Chinese automotive industry. In China, Volkswagen produces models of its group brands Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi and ŠKODA for the Chinese market together with its joint-venture partners SAIC and FAW. 

Vehicle production includes the use of engines and vehicle components from local plants. With its new location at Tianjin, the Volkswagen Group is represented at a total of eight vehicle and ten component production locations in China. In order to expand vehicle production, Shanghai Volkswagen has already announced a further new facility in Changsha. FAW-Volkswagen will also be constructing two new vehicle plants at Qingdao and Tianjin. 

In the first three quarters of 2014, Volkswagen Group China, together with its Chinese joint ventures Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, delivered more than 2.7 million vehicles, representing an increase of 15.2 percent compared with the previous year.

Nissan reports strong revenues and profits for Q1.

NISSAN REPORTS NET INCOME OF 112.1 BILLION YEN FOR
FIRST QUARTER OF FY2014

Results for three months to June 30,2014 (TSE report basis – China JV equity basis)*	Q1	Y-O-Y
Net revenue	¥2.47 trillion ($24.13 billion/€17.60 billion)	+10.4%
Operating profit	¥122.6 billion ($1.20 billion/€880 million)	+13.4%
Ordinary profit	¥148.8 billion ($1.46 billion/€1.06 billion)	+29.6%
Net income	¥112.1 billion ($1.10 billion/€800 million)	+36.7%
Based on average foreign exchange rates of JPY 102.2/USD and JPY 140.1/EUR

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced financial results for the three months to June 30, 2014.

Operating profit rose to 122.6 billion yen for the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year, representing a 5% margin on net revenues that climbed 10.4% to 2.47 trillion yen for the period.

"Nissan continued to make progress in the first three months of the fiscal year as encouraging demand for new products, benefits from recent plant investments, and improving market conditions in North America, China and Europe combined to lift both revenues and profits," said Carlos Ghosn, president and chief executive officer. "Nissan is well placed to deliver on its outlook given our continued product offensive along with measures to enhance competitiveness, build market share and the ongoing benefits of our Alliance strategy."

The improvement reflected particularly strong unit sales growth in the key markets of the U.S. and China, up 14.1% and 21.1% respectively. The company also benefited from rising demand for award-winning products including the Qashqai, Rogue and X-Trail, all derived from the Common Module Family developed within the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

During the first quarter of FY14 Nissan sold 1,240,000 vehicles globally, a 6.0% rise year-on-year.

The company continued to expand its zero-emissions leadership. Total sales since launch of the all-electric Nissan LEAF have passed 124,000 units and it continues to be the best-selling EV in history. Nissan took zero-emissions into the light commercial vehicle segment with the June launch of e-NV200, which offers versatility and class-leading running costs.

Nissan also provided a financial update on a management pro forma basis which includes the proportionate consolidation of the results of the joint venture in China. Pro forma results for the first quarter show that net revenue increased to 2.69 trillion yen, up 7.2% year-on-year. Operating profit was up 32.3% versus the same period last year, to 155.8 billion yen, resulting in a 5.8% operating profit margin, an increase of 1.1 percentage points.

FY2014 Outlook

Nissan reaffirmed its global sales forecast for fiscal 2014. The company expects to sell 5.65 million units this fiscal year, up 8.9%. New plant capacity will come on-stream in markets such as Mexico and Brazil. Full-year sales of new models including Nissan Qashqai and Rogue, Datsun GO and Infiniti Q50, will contribute to the momentum.

Based on this sales outlook, Nissan maintained forecasts first issued to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in May 2014. Calculated under the equity accounting method for our China joint venture for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, the forecasts showed:

Nissan FY14 Outlook – TSE report basis – China JV equity basis
Net revenue	10.79 trillion ($107.9 billion/€77.07 billion)
Operating profit	535.0 billion ($5.35 billion/€3.82 billion)
Ordinary profit	620.0 billion ($6.20 billion/€4.43 billion)
Net Income	405.0 billion ($4.05 billion/€2.89 billion)
Calculated on exchange rate of JPY 100/1 USD and JPY 140/1 EUR