Volkswagen investors fear Chinese competition and Xinjiang factory at AGM. According to advanced versions of their remarks, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) investors will question executives at its annual general meeting on Wednesday about its competitiveness in China and its contentious Xinjiang factory.
A copy of Chief Executive Oliver Blume’s speech, which does not mention Xinjiang, acknowledges China’s rapid electrification and outlines Volkswagen’s strategy to maintain its market leadership by tailoring products to Chinese tastes and building local partnerships.
Shareholders Deka Investment and Union Investment will urge the carmaker to require its joint venture partner SAIC to conduct an external independent audit of the plant in Xinjiang, where rights groups allege mass internment camps, which China denies.
Ingo Speich, Deka’s sustainability and corporate governance leader, said Volkswagen must clean its supplier chains.
World Uyghur Congress activist Haiyuer Kuerban will represent the Dachverband Kritische Aktionaere (Umbrella Organisation for Critical Shareholders).
Volkswagen’s China boss visited the SAIC (600104. SS)-owned Xinjiang facility earlier this year and found no forced labor.
Rights organizations say state pressure makes it hard to trust personnel to talk freely, and Chinese media claims that the carmaker’s suppliers across China originate from Xinjiang.
Shareholders will also note that BYD outsold Volkswagen to become China’s best-selling passenger car brand earlier this year.
The shareholders will question Volkswagen and how it would protect its market position in China and Europe against Chinese EV manufacturers and Tesla (TSLA.O).
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