Volkswagen statement in May following accusations of forced labour in the Xinjiang plant (operated by VW’s joint venture with SAIC)

“[…] as no full supply chain transparency [in China] exists.”

Meanwhile, VW had left the joint venture over forced labour accusations.

Another report says:

Volkswagen said in December 2023 that an audit overseen by Markus Löning, Germany’s former commissioner for human rights, found “no indications” of forced labor at the Xinjiang joint venture plant, which is used to road test cars assembled elsewhere in China. Löning conceded, however, that the basis for the audit had been a review of documentation rather than interviews with workers, which he said could be “dangerous.” He also said that “even if they [workers] would be aware of something, they cannot say that in an interview.”

The same report continues:

In June 2023, ECCHR [European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights] filed a complaint with the [German] Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control […], the German government authority overseeing the country’s Supply Chain Act. The complaint contends that Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are violating their obligations under the law by failing to adopt appropriate measures to identify and prevent the risks of state-imposed forced labor in their supply chains. [The Federal Office] has not yet responded publicly to the complaint.

And:

“We [Volkswagen] have no transparency about the supplier relationships of the non-controlled shareholding SAIC-Volkswagen.”