Chinese partner of Volkswagen (VW) in China, FAW, is suspected of unauthorized use of patents owned by German automaker, according to German daily Handelsblatt. For several months, FAW, VW’s partner in a joint venture was following a “systematic” espionage plan to copy engines and gearboxes of the German group, according to sources quoted by Handelsblatt. The Chinese company was planning to market a car equipped with these components in Russia and compete with cars built by Volkswagen and its Czech division, Skoda.
“It is simply a catastrophe,” said a VW board member. A VW spokesman said the group will analyze the problem extensively, adding that VW has co-operated very well in recent years with its Chinese partner FAW. Until recently, the German manufacturer was just noticing that the cars made by the Chinese partner looked a lot like VW cars, the newspaper reported. At the end of 2010 a first case has raised suspicions at VW, after FAW was suspected of copying plans of an automotive engine used in the VW Polo and Golf models.
The general manager of FAW, Jianye Xu, pledged to end these practices, arguing that copying VW engine plans was an individual error. Handelsblatt reported that the Chinese manufacturer has already established a plant in China for copying the engine, and the production has begun. At that time, VW management decided not to press charges against FAW, to avoid jeopardizing its fragile presence in China.
FAW and VW are allies since 1991 through a joint venture which owns plants in Changchun and Dalian in northeast China, and Chengdu, in the center of China. In April, the two parties decided to extend their partnership for 25 years. In 2011, Volkswagen sold 2.26 million cars in China, which became its main export market. The German group also owns another joint venture in China, older, with Chinese manufacturer SAIC.
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