大众中国启动对星宇股份劳工权益投诉专项调查

Volkswagen AG is investigating allegations that one of its Chinese suppliers violated labor rights, intensifying scrutiny into work practices in the country’s fiercely competitive car market.

The German manufacturer started the probe immediately after learning of the allegations surrounding the Shanghai-listed Changzhou Xingyu Automotive Lighting Systems Co., Volkswagen’s Chinese unit said Tuesday.

Xingyu sparked backlash when it hired 440 university graduates only to force 107 of them out shortly after they started in July. The company allegedly pressured them to accept “voluntary” resignations or transfer to factory assembly lines, Shanghai-based The Paper reported last month.

Xingyu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese parts maker faces heightened scrutiny just as it’s pursuing a secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, part of a bid to attract more international investors as it expands abroad. Active compliance investigations by its European clients — or Volkswagen shifting orders elsewhere — could weigh on its valuation.

The dismissals may also be a sign of how China’s brutal autos price war is squeezing component makers, with margins getting squeezed across the industry.

Read More: China Makes Cars So Quickly That Regulators Are Getting Worried

Xingyu’s staff cuts hit the young hires hard. In addition to losing income, the recruits forfeited their formal “fresh graduate” status, a designation that grants them preferential access to state-owned enterprise jobs, civil service exams, and urban residency quotas.

Changzhou’s local labor authority issued an official censure on Aug. 25, criticizing Xingyu’s moves. The parts maker subsequently suspended its human resources director and upgraded severance payouts to contain the fallout.

Still, Volkswagen’s probe, which is a standard procedure, puts the allegations back into the spotlight. Under German supply-chain laws, companies face strict human rights and labor compliance mandates across their global vendor networks, backed by potential fines for non-compliance. The automaker in 2024 decided to end its activities in Xinjiang, bowing to pressure from investors concerned about possible human-rights abuses in the western Chinese region.

“Respecting workers’ rights is a fundamental principle that guides all our business activities,” Volkswagen’s China unit said in a statement. Basic values, it added, “must be respected and protected across our entire supply chain.”