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Volkswagen eyeing exports to Southeast, Central Asian

markets

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Started exporting China-made limousines to the Middle East

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No plans to export to Europe due to technology differences

HEFEI, China, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Volkswagen

plans to export cars developed and made in China to more

overseas markets, an executive said on Tuesday, as the German

automaker looks to leverage its growing know-how in Chinese

technologies to compete with Chinese rivals abroad.

The company, which started exporting China-made petrol

limousines to the Middle East about six weeks ago, is evaluating

what other made-in-China offering could suit other markets,

Thomas Ulbrich, chief technology officer of Volkswagen Group

China, said.

Volkswagen's Chinese factories can make both internal

combustion engine vehicles and electric cars. Export

destinations it is considering include Southeast and Central

Asian countries.

"This is what we are doing in a collaborative

decision-making process with our headquarters in Germany,

because we have to pay attention that we have the right

portfolio of cars in each market," Ulbrich told reporters in the

city of Hefei, home to Volkswagen's Chinese production and

innovation hub.

However, it has no plans to export the China-made cars to

Europe due to a difference in electronic architecture and

software technology for smart vehicles.

Volkswagen has invested billions of euros in the Hefei hub

as part of its "in China for China" strategy that seeks to help

the automaker regain market share from aggressive Chinese rivals

by speeding up decision making and product development.

At the same time, it is facing growing competition abroad as

Chinese automakers are increasingly looking to expand overseas

to escape a brutal price war and overcapacity at home.

Volkswagen also said on Tuesday that it had reached a

milestone because it was now able to fully develop new vehicle

platforms and key technology with all approval processes outside

Germany. Developing a new EV model in China can cost up to 50%

less than elsewhere due to the scale of technologies and

suppliers available in the country, Volkswagen said.

Volkswagen will also sell the cars developed on its flagship

China-developed electronic architecture - an engineering layout

of components including control units and chips deciding

software capabilities of a vehicle - outside China "very soon",

Ulbrich said without giving specifics.