Volkswagen to close jointly-owned China plant, reports Handelsblatt

STORY: Volkswagen and its Chinese partner SAIC will close their joint plant in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

According to a reports in the German daily Handelsblatt paper on Friday.

Citing several people familiar with the process.production has already been halted.

And the closure will take place gradually in the second half of the year.

VW did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Reuters reported in September that the German carmaker was planning to stop production at its Nanjing plant, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The carmaker would gradually shift production of its Passat family cars from the Nanjing plant to a nearby factory in the same eastern province of Jiangsu, the person said at the time.

Volkswagen, long the top-selling automaker in China, is suffering from a decline in its market share.