Volvo Cars closing China plant due to coronavirus restrictions

 An employee at a Volvo car dealer, wearing a protective mask is seen in a showroom, in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File photo

OSLO  -Sweden’s Volvo Cars will temporarily close its plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu due to local coronavirus restrictions, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

“Due to the lockdown in Chengdu, Volvo Cars is temporarily suspending production at a manufacturing plant there. We are assessing the impact on the business and we’ll continue to monitor the situation,” the spokesperson said.

Volvo’s plant in Daqing had also been affected by a lockdown in recent days, he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Chengdu announced a lockdown of its 21.2 million residents, the most populous city to be locked down since Shanghai earlier this year.

Stockholm-listed Volvo, majority owned by Chinese automotive company Geely Holding, has produced cars in China since 2013 and last year sold almost 172,000 vehicles in the country, some 25 percent of its overall sales.

The company’s shares traded 3.3 percent lower at 1058 GMT, lagging the Stockholm benchmark index which was down 1.7 percent.