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Shanghai lockdown: Volkswagen joins ranks of Tesla and Toyota, to partially shut factory amid Covid-19 outbreak

  • The plant, operated in a joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor, will partially shut down production on Thursday
  • The company will provide information on a daily basis, spokesperson says

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A file photo of an assembly line at the SAIC-Volkswagen workshop in Shanghai from October 2018. Photo: Xinhua
Bloomberg
Volkswagen will close part of its factory in Shanghai because of the difficulty in procuring parts during the city’s lockdown, although it is also looking at ways to keep production running while pandemic restrictions are in place.
The plant, operated in a joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor, will partially shut down production on Thursday, a VW spokesperson said, without providing further details including when it may be able to resume or what parts and models are specifically affected. The company will provide information on a daily basis, the spokesperson said.

China’s adherence to a “Covid-Zero policy” is wreaking havoc on global carmakers. VW and Toyota Motor, the world’s two largest carmakers, suspended production at four plants in Changchun more than two weeks ago when the city 950 kilometres northeast of Beijing was plunged into lockdown to contain a Covid-19 outbreak, and say it’s unclear when workers will be able to return. That follows a near two-week shutdown of factories in Tianjin during an outbreak in January.

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With Shanghai now in a phased lockdown, Tesla has suspended production at its Gigafactory for at least four days, a blow to the electric car pioneer given China is the company’s second-largest market and the plant builds cars for export to Europe and elsewhere in Asia. Toyota’s bus and truck unit Hino Motors has also paused production at its engine plant in the city.

Shanghai will adopt a strategy of “static management of the whole region”, according to a government statement. While the phrase has been used by Chinese officials to mean a strict lockdown in which residents are barred from leaving their homes, the Shanghai statement did not clarify the scope of any new measures.

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