Volkswagen and JV partner SAIC plan to close China plant, reports Bloomberg via Reuters

(Reuters) – Volkswagen ( ETR: ) and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC plan to close at least one plant in China due to sluggish demand for combustion engine cars, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The first plant threatened with closure – as soon as next year – is its Nanjing location, which makes VW Passat and Skoda cars, according to Bloomberg.

Volkswagen said it does not comment on speculation. SAIC was not immediately available for comment.

The German automaker, long the best-selling automaker in China, has been suffering from a decline in its market share in the country and is working with SAIC and other partners such as Xpeng (NYSE: ) to bring new models to market that hopes to make them. be more competitive.

Reuters reported earlier this year that SAIC aimed to cut 10% of jobs this year at SAIC Volkswagen and other partners, facing steep sales declines as BYD ( SZ: ) and Tesla ( NASDAQ 🙂 they grew way ahead in the race to capture EV. market share.