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on september 21, in response to the marketsaic volkswagenregarding the rumor that the nanjing factory will be closed, saic volkswagen told the reporter from china business network: "based on corporate strategic planning and in response to market trends, it is normal and necessary for companies to adjust their production bases. this adjustment is not only a positive response to current trends, but also a proactive plan and investment for future development."

recently, some media reported, citing multiple insiders, that saic volkswagen is planning to close its factory in nanjing, jiangsu next year.passatandskodathe brand has a variety of models and an annual production capacity of 360,000 vehicles. saic volkswagen plans to relocate some workers from the nanjing plant to another plant in yizheng, jiangsu, which currently focuses on the production of sedans.lavida。

saic volkswagen explained that all production work in the nanjing plant is currently running normally. at present, the production capacity of all passat models is sufficient, and production and sales are all normal. it is just that based on market demand and product planning, saic volkswagen will launch many new products in the future, including new fuel products and new energy products. based on the new product spectrum, the production base must also be planned accordingly.

jiangsu, as saic volkswagen's earliest production base outside shanghai, has a long history and manufacturing experience. currently, saic volkswagen has two vehicle plants in jiangsu, nanjing and yizheng. among them, saic volkswagen nanjing plant is located in nanjing jiangning district. with the urban development of nanjing, the plant has been getting closer and closer to the city center, and the space for electrification upgrades and intelligent electric system matching has become increasingly limited. nanjing and yizheng are less than 80 kilometers apart. from the perspective of integrating resources and economy, saic volkswagen needs to rethink the future planning of these two plants.

the reporter learned that based on the new corporate strategy and product lineage layout, saic volkswagen is conducting an overall assessment of production bases across the country and planning a better production capacity layout. the new production base planning will also be based on industrial parks, taking into account the corresponding supporting logistics, contiguous planning, and functional allocation. for example, anting, as saic volkswagen's earliest production base, has been making corresponding planning adjustments and focusing on building it into an "electrified production center, r&d innovation center, and intelligent manufacturing center."

in recent years, with the vigorous development of new energy vehicles in the domestic market, the market share of independent brands has continued to rise. in the first half of 2024, the market share of china's independent auto brands has steadily increased, and its share of the domestic market has exceeded 60%, a record high. correspondingly, the market share of joint venture brands has been continuously eroded.

against this background, saic volkswagen, as a leading joint venture brand, saw its cumulative sales in the first eight months of this year decline by nearly 5% year-on-year, and accelerating adjustments has almost become a pressing need for it.

not long ago, fu qiang, executive vice president of sales and marketing of saic volkswagen, said in an interview with the media that he was not optimistic about some joint ventures choosing to lie flat, because once they lie flat, they can never stand up again. therefore, saic volkswagen's choice is very firm. there will be transitional strategies and methods during the transition period. some interests will be sacrificed temporarily, but what will be won is the future battlefield.

in addition to adopting active marketing strategies, saic volkswagen is also accelerating cost reduction and efficiency improvement. fu qiang said that saic volkswagen is indeed preparing some structural cost optimization internally, but the optimization strategy is far less than the 2 billion yuan rumored in the market, and it does not involve sacrificing product quality. this part of structural cost optimization is mainly focused on reducing production capacity. the volkswagen brand previously had an annual production capacity of 2.5 million vehicles, and the annual production capacity required in the future will be between 1.5 million and 2 million vehicles. the extra annual production capacity of 500,000 to 1 million vehicles may be a burden on the current operation, and saic volkswagen needs to make appropriate adjustments.