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In An Interview With Autocar Magazine, Kai Grüritz, Head Of Technical Development At Volkswagen, Minimizes The Advancement Of Chinese Electric Cars, Defends The European Experience, And Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Of The New VW ID Polo, Created To Win Back The Public.
The rise of Chinese car brands and their global expansion have put traditional European automakers in the face of an unprecedented challenge. The consolidated dominance of these companies has come under threat from manufacturers in China that offer cheaper cars but with similar quality. Still, for Kai Grüritz, Head of Technical Development at Volkswagen, the Chinese advancement is not a cause for concern.
In an interview with Autocar, Grüritz stated bluntly: “I am not afraid of the Chinese. Why would the Chinese know what a European customer wants better than a European manufacturer? Why would they know better how people drive in Great Britain?”
Experience As A Competitive Advantage
According to the executive, the experience accumulated by European brands remains a determining asset. For him, the secret to automotive excellence lies in the direct interaction between people and machines.
“At the end of the day, making cars is about people. You need to sit behind the wheel and feel the vehicle, and that cannot be achieved with a simulation, no matter how advanced it is,” he explained.
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Grüritz acknowledges that Chinese manufacturers have accelerated their development pace by using digital tools and virtual testing environments.
However, he reinforces that speed is not synonymous with quality. He cites the development of the ID Polo and ID Cross models, completed in 36 months, as an example.
“The Chinese work speed is achievable, but the important thing is to do it without compromising the fundamentals — and that’s what will set good brands apart from the best brands,” he stated.
The engineer emphasizes that the process of developing a car requires time for refinements and improvements. “You can’t think about developing a car in 24 months and then have only two weeks to work on its performance application on the road. That’s not enough, and you need to know exactly what to do,” he explained.
For him, this experience is one of the main advantages of European automakers. “This is an advantage that European OEMs have, not just Volkswagen, but also brands like BMW or Audi. We have been doing this for a long time,” he added.
The Strategic Role Of The ID Polo
Among Volkswagen’s new projects, the ID Polo is seen as a key piece of the brand’s electric strategy. The model, which promises to be an affordable electric car, represents the automaker’s effort to compete with both low-cost Chinese vehicles and the traditional offers of its European competitors.
Grüritz was involved in the entire development process and highlighted the unprecedented nature of this journey within the company. “We started just before Christmas 2022, with the first sketches and ideas about what a Volkswagen should be, and since then we have developed this concept.
This was the first time I had the opportunity to be involved from the initial sketches to the presentation of the finished vehicle over three years,” he reported.
He also emphasized the collaborative nature of the model’s creation. “The important thing is that this isn’t a car made for me. This is what we used to do in the past: cars made for Piëch or Winterkorn. But this is a car made for our customers,” he stated.
The engineer explained that Volkswagen invested in opinion research, studies, and focus groups to understand what the public truly wanted. “In developing this car, we widely consulted our customers about what they were looking for in this type of vehicle. This is not a vehicle for board members, but rather a vehicle for customers,” he emphasized.
An Authentic Volkswagen For A New Era
The use of the name Polo in the electric line was not just a tribute to the brand’s history, but also a way to reclaim Volkswagen’s classic identity under a new perspective. According to Grüritz, the team’s focus was not simply to recreate an old model, but to ensure that the new car reflected the original values of the automaker.
“We did not focus so much on creating a Polo; we focused on bringing back an authentic Volkswagen. That was the goal in every aspect: design, materials, price, functionality. That guided us throughout the entire development process,” he explained.
With this vision, the Head of Technical Development reaffirms Volkswagen’s confidence in its heritage and its ability to adapt.
For him, the strength of the brand lies not only in technology but in the combination of tradition, experience, and consumer sensitivity — factors that, according to him, will continue to be decisive differentiators even in an era dominated by electric cars.
A soberba de Kai Grüritz é impressionante. Se a Volkswagen nao teme carro chineses, por que ela possui joint venture com empresa de carro eletrico chinese?
As pessoas estão cansada de pagar caro por um carro cheio de plástico da Volkswagen e pouca tecnologia embarcada