German automaker Volkswagen shut down two of its factories in Tianjin, China on Monday due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting its main market where it already shrank last year.
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A factory producing vehicles with the Chinese partner FAW as well as a component factory, both located in the port metropolis of Tianjin (north), “have been closed since Monday due to recent cases of COVID-19,” said to AFP a spokesperson for the group.
“We hope to resume production very soon and make up for lost production,” the source added.
Tianjin, a city bordering Beijing, on Sunday banned its 14 million residents from stepping outside municipal limits following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The car plant co-operated by the Chinese subsidiary of Volkswagen produces five models of the VW and Audi brands, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 units, according to data from the group.
These production stoppages come following a difficult year in China, which is by far the group’s largest market in the world.
The last quarter was particularly heavy, with 754,700 vehicles sold by the giant to 12 brands, showing a decline of 36.5% in one year.
In 2021, the group sold 3.3 million units in China, a decline of 14% in this market among the hardest hit by semiconductor shortages.
This decline was partially offset by sales of electric vehicles, which have more than quadrupled in one year, to 92,700 units.
