Thousands Of VW Group Cars Banned From The US Because Of A Chinese Part

The British business newspaper Financial Times reports, based on two insiders, that thousands of Volkswagen Group cars are not allowed into the United States because of a Chinese part. The part is said to have been made using forced labor. The Volkswagen Group has discovered this itself, according to FT. Volkswagen was reportedly unaware of the source of the part because it came from an indirect supplier. That supplier eventually informed the German car manufacturer, after which the Volkswagen Group informed the American authorities.

According to the sources, this concerns about a thousand Porsches, several hundred Bentleys, and several thousand Audis. They further tell FT that the cars contain a part that comes from ‘Western China’. In that region, Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority, are being oppressed by China.

The US has banned the import of products made using forced labor from several Chinese regions. Earlier on Wednesday, Volkswagen reported that it was investigating all its activities in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. The car manufacturer made this decision following a publication by the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. According to that newspaper, forced labor was allegedly used during the construction of a test site in Turpan, a city in the West Chinese region. The insiders did not want to confirm to FT whether the part came from the same region. According to them, deliveries of Volkswagen cars have been postponed until the end of March. Before then, the parts must be replaced.

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