(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- Volkswagen, the world's largest automaker last year, has signed up China's Pacific Precision Forging to make rotor shafts for its upcoming MEB modular car chassis.

Jiangsu-based Pacific Precision will be one of two firms supplying the motor bearings, providing the German carmaker with around 355,000 a year, around half of the total needed, the supplier said in a statement yesterday.

The MEB, or Modularer Elektrobaukasten, is a modular chassis designed by Volkswagen specifically for electric cars. The firm is planning to spend CNY17 billion (USD2.5 billion) building its first plant dedicated to making cars using the platform in Shanghai, also the home of Tesla's upcoming China factory.

Pacific Precision will look to increase its production capacity in line with Volkswagen's needs and seek more orders for its electric vehicle rotor shafts, the statement added, saying Volkswagen will make a million EVs a year in China in future.

The carmaker will have its work cut out if it plans to succeed in China's electric vehicle market -- which is the largest in the world. Volkswagen caught a bad rap in 2015, when it intentionally cheated emissions tests to put polluting cars on the road, and has since vowed to build 10 million vehicles on its MEB platform under its Electric for All campaign.

Editor: James Boynton