Volkswagen management has long denied evidence of human rights abuses at the facility.
In the first nine months of 2024, VW sales in China fell by 12%, losing popularity to local manufacturers.
German carmaker Volkswagen has sold its plant in the Chinese province of Xinjiang after numerous allegations of forced labor. The region is home to the persecuted Muslim Uyghur minority, Bild reported on Wednesday, November 27.
According to the UN and human rights organizations, so-called “re-education camps” operate in Xinjiang, where numerous human rights violations, including forced labor, are recorded.
The plant was opened in 2012 together with Chinese partner SAIC. It was the first car production in the region, the cost of the project was 170 million euros.
Volkswagen management has long denied evidence of human rights abuses at the facility. However, pressure from the international community has been steadily increasing. In September of this year, more than 50 parliamentarians from different countries called on the company to leave the region.
Earlier, the head of Volkswagen’s Chinese division, Ralf Brandstätter, stated that the concern had not identified any violations at the plant and planned to continue work. However, criticism and a decline in sales forced the company to reconsider its plans.
In the first nine months of 2024, VW’s sales in China fell by 12%, losing popularity to local manufacturers.
Despite this, VW CEO Thomas Schaefer stressed that the concern remains committed to a strategic presence in the Chinese market.
Recall that earlier it was reported that Volkswagen, for the first time in its 87 years of existence, announced its intention to close factories in Germany.
Volkswagen subsequently announced tough cost-cutting measures, including closing at least three plants in Germany, cutting employee salaries, and outsourcing some departments abroad.
