Volkswagen may close Chinese joint plant

Volkswagen launched its first coupe-styled sports utility vehicle, the ID.UNYX, in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Credit: Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC is considering closing a plant in the eastern city of Nanjing where it has been making VW’s popular Passat and Skoda vehicles, a company representative said, according to a recent report by financial media outlet Caixin. SAIC-VW has two plants 80 kilometers (50 miles) apart in the capital city of the eastern province of Jiangsu, and the company said it will shift production of its Passats to nearby factories if it closes one of the two. Another VW Chinese plant in the eastern city of Ningbo that makes Skoda vehicles is also under consideration for closure, Bloomberg reported in Sept. 18, information denied by two sources, as Reuters later wrote. Sales of SAIC-VW fell 4.8% to roughly 678,000 over the first eight months of this year, and the German car giant is also considering closing two factories in Germany in a historic move to reduce costs. [Caixin Global, Bloomberg]