It could take another month to release the delivery of thousands of Volkswagen Group cars stuck at customs in some US ports. The cars belong to the Wolfsburg giant's premium brands, namely Audi, Porsche and Bentley, with luxury and sports models that will remain stationary and cannot be delivered due to a problem linked to a Chinese company working with VW.
Violation of human rights?
As reported by Automotive News Europe and from Financial Times, these cars and in particular some components would have passed through the Xinjiang region in western China for some quality checks. Here the working conditions and exploitation would violate US anti-forced labor laws. Hence the imposed blockade. The problem was discovered in mid-January, with the timing starting to drag on. Several minorities work in this factory, with the Volkswagen Group having already faced pressure from humanitarian rights activists and institutions to intensify checks on the quality of work.
Volkswagen's investigations
The joint venture with SAIC in the region has thus come under the magnifying glass, with the Turpan plant possibly also interrupting its activities. Volkswagen stated that it had started discussions with its Chinese counterpart even though the agreement between the parties provides for operations at the site until 2029. VW has always stated that it takes any violation of human rights very seriously and that if internal investigations had highlighted any such treatments, it could have put an end to the agreement with SAIC.
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