Volkswagen Group China (VGC; 大众汽车(中国)) is a division of the German automotive concern Volkswagen Group in the People's Republic of China. Volkswagen Group China enjoys sales of about 3.14 million cars (2017) in the Chinese market and is the largest brand in China by sales. The Chinese market is Volkswagen's largest market, accounting for around 50% of Volkswagen's global sales in 2021. Operations of Volkswagen in China include the production, sales and services of whole cars, parts and components, engines and transmission systems, and the sales and service of imported cars. The company's locally manufactured and imported vehicles are sold under various brand names such as Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, Bentley, and Lamborghini in China. Volkswagen Group China is the largest, earliest, and the most successful international partner in China's automotive industry. It started its connection with China as early as in 1978, and has been taking the leading position in the Chinese automotive market for more than 25 years. Its first joint venture in China, Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd., was established in October 1984. This joint venture, now called SAIC Volkswagen. was in the process of building an electric-car plant in Anting, near Shanghai by late 2018; it was expected to make 300,000 e-vehicles per year, starting in 2020. The second joint venture, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company Ltd. was established in Changchun in February 1991. It manufactures VW and Audi brand cars. In 2018, an executive with FAW-Volkswagen's Audi division said that two million China-made Audi cars will be sold in the country by 2020. As of the end of 2017, the total to date was 777,000. History In 1984, Volkswagen signed a 25-year contract to make passenger cars in Shanghai. Since, at that time, vehicle manufacturers could not own a majority stake in a manufacturing plant, Volkswagen's venture took the limit of 50 per cent foreign ownership. Today, the Group has 16 representative companies in the country, undertaking parts delivery and service provision for both customers and industry in addition to vehicle production and import. By May 2004, Volkswagen Group had concentrated its strengths in the founding of Volkswagen Group China (VGC), which is governed by a six-member management team responsible for the areas of sales and marketing, technology, purchasing, personnel and governmental relations as well as finance. VGC's tasks include supervision of the Chinese associated companies of the Volkswagen Group, and the set-up of new business segments. Operations