Consider due to dwindling demand for internal combustion engine vehicles Volkswagen and its Chinese partner SAIC to close a plant in the People’s Republic. To this end, production of Passat models will be relocated from Nanjing to another factory nearby, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Manager magazin reported in mid-April about talks to close the plant
. VW did not want to comment on the issue. SAIC could not immediately be reached for comment.
Some of the workers from Nanjing would also move to the other plant, the insider said. However, there is no timetable yet. It is also unclear whether the factory in Nanjing will be closed or sold. Regardless, the two car manufacturers are thinking about boosting sales of the “Skoda” brand again. Skoda currently only accounts for one percent of the sales of the SAIC-VW joint venture. In 2017 the proportion was 17 percent.
The Bloomberg news agency initially reported on planned factory closures. However, two other insiders emphasized that the Ningbo plant, which is threatened with closure, is not up for grabs.
VW in China: loss of market share
Volkswagen was the most successful vehicle manufacturer in the world for many years China. However, due to growing domestic and foreign competition, market share has recently declined. The Wolfsburg-based group is therefore working with partners such as SAIC and Xpeng on new models to regain lost ground.
Last year, SAIC-VW sold 1.2 million vehicles, 43 percent less than in 2017. In the spring, insiders said that SAIC was in its joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors want to cut thousands of jobs.