Volkswagen said on Friday that it had stopped production on a Chinese site in Nankin, operated with its local partner Saic. The measurement is part of the context of redoubled competition on the main market of the German manufacturer.
“The Nankin Saic Volkswagen factory has ceased its production,” a Volkswagen spokesperson told AFP, confirming information from the German economic daily Handelsblatt.
The newspaper adds that the site must close, according to a decision which will be finalized in the second half.
The spokesperson has not confirmed the closure of the site, referring to the Volkswagen strategy and its joint ventures in China aimed at “accelerating the transformation” to electric, intelligent and connected vehicles, with an “aligned and optimized” production network as a result.
Located in the Nankin Economic and Technological Development Zone (EST), this factory was inaugurated in 2008 with an annual capacity of 210,000 vehicles by using 2,500 people, according to a presentation on the Chinese Volkswagen site.
The immediate proximity of the city center made any transformation to the production of expensive and ineffective electric vehicles, according to sources close to the group.
Production on this site included in particular the Volkswagen Passat sedan with thermal engine as well as the Skoda Superb. Their remaining production should be transferred to the neighboring site of Yizheng, writes the Handelsblatt.
The Nankin factory is the first Volkswagen site in China to be completely closed.
Admittedly, the group withdrew in November 2024 from the controversial factory of the Xinjiang province, populated by Uïghours, but it was sold.
Pioneer in China, its most important market in which it established its first production site in the 1980s and has more than thirty today, Volkswagen must adapt to the structural turn of the Chinese automotive sector.
It is marked by the decline in thermal car sales, the rise in power of local electric brands and increased competition.
The Volkswagen group intends to speed up its transition to electromobility and aims to rebound its sales thanks to a new generation of electric models from 2026.
This article was published automatically. Sources: ATS / AWP / AFP
