600,000 km warranty: Volkswagen goes all out to attract Chinese taxis...

To convince and reassure customers, new automakers often offer extended warranties. Even though Volkswagen is not a newcomer, it too adopts this approach — but in China.

With a long presence in China, Volkswagen finds itself in a position to compete as a challenger. To attract customers, it must resort to a strategy typically used by new brands. Just as Chinese companies do in Europe, it provides a fairly unprecedented warranty on its latest electric model.

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The promise remains true with this brand’s first electric sedan: 79,800 RMB, or 10,672 euros at current rates, for a sedan 4.80 meters long. But its range is 465 km under the CLTC cycle (less than 400 km under the WLTP cycle). The higher-end version costs 100,000 RMB (13,374 euros) and offers 555 km of range thanks to its 51.9 kWh battery (about 450 km under the WLTP cycle).

It’s actually this version with the larger battery that’s part of the new offer. Larger battery, standard equipment from the base version, 85,900 RMB (11,488 euros), available only in white. And most importantly, an exceptional warranty of 600,000 km or 8 years.

Of course, this isn’t available to all customers, who must settle for a 100,000 km warranty. This new version is intended for taxis. This says a lot about the positioning of the Jetta brand. Taxis often use relatively low-end models, and the Volkswagen Jetta has long served this role in many Chinese cities.

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