The reason: the Chinese are less and less buying cars with SUS engines
Volkswagen and its Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp plan to close a car factory in Nanjing as early as next year due to declining sales of some internal combustion vehicles and the growing popularity of electric vehicles in China.
The factory produces the Chinese version of the VW Passat as well as several Skoda models and has an annual capacity of as many as 360,000 vehicles. Unnamed sources say that the brand is reviewing Škoda’s strategy due to falling sales. Another plant that produces Skoda models, located in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, has also been idle for months and may also be closed, reports Jutarnji.hr.
When asked about the alleged plant closure, VW China said it was “transforming vehicle and component production step by step,” but added that “all SAIC Volkswagen plants are operating normally in line with market demands and our forecasts.”
The German car giant employs more than 90,000 people in China and operates as many as 39 factories. However, production at those locations has fallen by more than a quarter from its pre-coronavirus peak and roughly half from 2015. Bloomberg adds that SAIC-VW-owned plants are only 58 percent utilized out of a possible 2.1 million cars a year.
Speaking to Reuters, one source said VW and SAIC have yet to decide whether they will close the factory completely or they will try to sell it. To some factory workers it could be said that they moved to work at the Yizheng factory, where the VW Lavida model is currently being produced.
This would not be the first time that SAIC-VW has stopped producing vehicles at one of its Chinese plants. In 2022, it moved production from its No. 1 car factory in Shanghai’s Anting Production Zone to a factory in Yizheng.
The automaker is also mulling the possibility of closing two factories in Germany in an effort to save money. The plan has been fiercely opposed by the powerful union that represents the majority of VW workers in Germany.
Izvor: Jutarnji.hr / Bloomberg / Reuters
Photo: Archive Autoblog.rs / Volkswagen
Source: autoblog.rs
