Two Volkswagen Plants in China Plan to Suspend Production for Maintenance Work

Two Chinese auto plants run by German automaker Volkswagen through joint ventures are planning to partly suspend production lines to conduct maintenance work, state television reported recently. The news comes amid a huge slump in sales of vehicles in China, the world's second-largest vehicle market after the U.S. China's CCTV said in its midday bulletin that FAW-Volkswagen Automobile plans to suspend part of its production at a plant in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province in NE China, at the end of the year to carry out maintenance. Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive will also suspend work at its production line for half a month from mid-December to early January, reported the Beijing News Daily. Volkswagen sold about 910,000 vehicles to customers in China in 2007. Vehicle sales in China fell 16% in Nov., a sharp reverse for China's automakers, which saw sales grow by 18.5% in 2007. Global automakers were counting on fast-growing Chinese sales to help drive revenue growth as sales elsewhere weakened. The Industry Minister said Beijing is considering ways to revive sales including cutting taxes, offering low-interest loans or forcing old vehicles off the road.