German automaker justified the sale as part of a strategic realignment and mentioned that the decision was motivated by economic reasons
A, together with the SAIC Motorannounced the sale of one of its factories in , located in the Xinjiang region. This decision generated controversy due to allegations of human rights violations related to the persecution of Uyghur minorities, mainly forced labor. The transaction was carried out with the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center, which is a subsidiary of Shanghai Lingang Economic Development. The German automaker justified the sale as part of a strategic realignment and mentioned that the decision was motivated by economic reasons.
However, the financial details of the deal were not revealed. Despite the sale, the SAIC Volkswagen joint venture still has four factories operating in China. The previous year, Volkswagen faced pressure from investors and government authorities, prompting it to carry out an audit at its factory in Xinjiang. The results of this audit did not indicate the presence of human rights abuses. However, the company received new allegations about forced labor at a separate test track, which were promptly denied.
*Report produced with the help of AI
Published by Fernando Dias
