Germany’s Volkswagen plans to launch a family of low-cost budget cars in China and possibly elsewhere starting in 2018, its chief executive said on Sunday. “We will bring a budget car family to market in 2018, with an SUV, saloon and hatchback,” Reuters quoted Martin Winterkorn as saying. Europe’s largest automaker had for years been pondering a budget car but difficulties in hitting internal cost targets had thwarted approval of the project. The vehicles—to be built in China—will cost between $8,932 and $12,000, Winterkorn said. Previously, the company targeted a price of between about $6,500 and $8,500 for its budget car. “We will see if this is something of interest for other markets as well,” Winterkorn said. The budget car is seen as important for VW’s future plans, particularly in Southeast Asia. If sanctions against Iran are completely removed, we may see some of these budget vehicles making their way to Iran in the coming years.
