Volkswagen moves in on Southeast Asia

As Volkswagen expands overseas, “We will certainly become an active player in the [ASEAN] region in the next years, and we are currently very active on the road in these countries,” to close one of the few remaining gaps in Volkswagen’s global production network of 102 facilities, said Michael Macht, Production Chief of Volkswagen Group, at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The carmaker may announce an initial US$270-million investment to build a car plant in Cikampek, West Java of Indonesia, according to an Indonesian government official. According to Reuters, Macht declined to comment on which country Volkswagen would eventually choose.

The multibrand automotive group is still short of an assembly plant in the ASEAN region and has a goal to overtake Toyota and General Motors to become the world’s largest automaker no later than 2018.