VW Denies Plans for New Plant in Changsha, China

Volkswagen AG says it has no intention of building a new 10 billion-yuan ($1.6 billion) car plant in China's southeastern city of Changsha, as Chinese officials have suggested.

The speculation was generated by statements on the Web sites of the state-supported Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and the Changsha National Economic & Technical Development Zone. The academy claims VW is planning to add 300,000 units of annual capacity at a Changsha factory.

VW currently has annual capacity of about 2.38 million vehicles at its various joint ventures in China. The company has said it would invest €14 billion ($18.3 billion) by 2016 on new vehicles and facilities in China.

VW is presently building a €170 million ($222 million) assembly plant in Urumqi in northwestern China with joint venture partner Shanghai Automotive industry Group. The factory is scheduled to open in 2015 with annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles.