Volkswagen Stalls Plans for New Car Plant in Turkey

   By William Boston 
 

BERLIN--German automotive giant Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) said Tuesday that its executive board has delayed final approval for building a new car plant in Turkey in light of the country's incursion into northern Syria.

Volkswagen, which is planning to build a facility in Turkey with the capacity to assemble around 300,000 cars a year, is the first big German company to reconsider an investment in Turkey in the wake of the Ankara's controversial move into northern Syria and its attack on Kurdish forces in the wake of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the region.

"The board of management has delayed the decision the new plant. We are monitoring the current situation closely and are concerned about current developments," the company said in a statement.

Over the past two decades Turkey has become a key manufacturing location for the global auto industry. Major auto makers including Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA.MI), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Renault SA (RNO.FR), build cars and trucks in Turkey.

The European Union has called on Turkey to halt its incursion into Syria. Germany, a big trading partner with Turkey, has suspended all deliveries of weapons to the country's armed forces.

Write to William Boston at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 15, 2019 05:19 ET (09:19 GMT)

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