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The
companies also said Wednesday that they were extending their
40-year-old automaking joint venture until 2040, ahead of
schedule, and that the JV will step up its shift to electric
vehicles.
Volkswagen AG was one of the first foreign investors in China’s
auto industry. The 1980s model Santana sedans its JV in Shanghai
made formed the basis of taxi fleets in Shanghai and other
cities for many years. SAIC, based in Shanghai, says it is the
largest automaker in China, turning out 5 million vehicles in
2023. It also has partnerships with General Motors and other
automakers.
Earlier this year, the Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi and
Porsche, said it plans to launch 40 new models in China over the
next three years and to have a lineup of 30 EVs by 2030. On
Wednesday, it said SAIC Volkswagen plans to launch 18 new models
by 2030, including eight EVs.
Volkswagen is among many foreign automakers that have been
caught flat-footed by an electric vehicle boom in China that has
shaken up the market, the world’s largest, over the last three
years.
The company said the joint venture site in Xinjiang's capital
Urumqi will be sold to the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection
Center, while preserving the jobs of the roughly 170 people who
work there. It said the joint venture has also sold test tracks
in Xinjiang's Turpan and in Anting, outside Shanghai.
In response to criticism over its operations in Xinjiang,
Volkswagen earlier said an audit it commissioned found no
evidence of forced labor at the facility, but it was considering
options for its future.
The plant, operated by a subsidiary of SAIC-VW, began production
in 2013 and had a maximum capacity of 50,000 vehicles. It no
longer makes vehicles but provides inspections.
The restructuring of the VW-SAIC joint venture comes at a time
of uncertainty over costs and market access given moves by
western governments to impose higher tariffs on electric
vehicles imported from China.
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