Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) and Swire Group Taiwan (台灣太古集團) yesterday denied that they have been informed about progress in Volkswagen AG’s (VW) plan to establish a production line in Taiwan.
The two companies made the denial after the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that VW’s investment plan would be finalized next month and that the German company would begin to produce vehicles in Taiwan next year.
The paper cited sources as saying that VW’s local agent, Swire Group Taiwan, would play a leading role in the initial phase of the investment plan. VW would initially provide technological support instead of capital and would inject funding only in the medium and long-term stages, it said.
The paper also said that VW might start production by commissioning Yulon to produce its Polo and Lupo compact cars for export to Southeast Asian countries.
Yulon said the report was speculation. Yulon has not signed a contract with VW, a spokesperson said.
Swire Group Taiwan also said no progress has been made on the project and that it has so far not been informed whether the project has been approved.
A Ministry of Economic Affairs official said VW would launch an investment project in Taiwan, but the timing remains uncertain.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said earlier yesterday that VW executives met with him twice more than year ago to talk about their investment plan.
“During their stay, the ministry also recommended possible locations to house their new production facility, but no new information has since been available about the plan,” Wu said.
Another ministry official said the timing of VW’s decision on the investment project might hinge on progress in talks with China to include finished cars in the early harvest list, making it subject to preferential tariff rates under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
While auto parts and components have been put on the ECFA’s early harvest list that took effect at the beginning of this year, follow-up talks about the inclusion of more items on the list have not yet been concluded.
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