"We are working with five battery cell suppliers qualifying them to group level. With one or two of them it may lead to more close cooperation. In China we have chosen to do this with Chinese players," Stephan Woellenstein (55), CEO of Volkswagen China Passenger Cars said in Shanghai on Monday.

The push to broaden the company's supplier base reduces VW Group's dependency on CATL as its main supplier, Woellenstein said at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Volkswagen needs 160 Gigawatt hours of battery cell capacity as part of a mass production push into electric cars, Woellenstein said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)

Stocks treated in this article : Volkswagen, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd