Ford has to say goodbye to its Germany head, Martin Sander. Starting from July 1, Sander will be working as the Board Member for Sales, Marketing, and After Sales at Volkswagen Passenger Cars, as announced by the Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer. Sander succeeds Imelda Labbé, who held this position for the past two years. The engineer Sander previously held various leadership positions at Audi in North America and Europe and was most recently the Chairman of the Management Board of Ford-Werke GmbH and General Manager of Ford Model e for Ford of Europe.

Amid these personnel changes, leading Chinese battery manufacturers, which maintain relations with Ford and Volkswagen, could face significant difficulties in the USA. Several Republican lawmakers are calling for these companies to be denied access to the US market due to accusations of forced labor in their supply chains.

Lawmakers demand that Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Gotion High-Tech, partially owned by Volkswagen, be placed on the import ban list. This demand is based on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which targets companies involved in the use of forced labor in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. CATL and Gotion are thus to be placed on the list due to their alleged connections to forced labor in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights abuses in the region.

CATL and Gotion, both planning massive investments in the USA, have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The investment plans of battery manufacturers in the USA have stalled. Ford recently paused and then scaled down plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan based on CATL technology. Gotion, heavily invested in by Volkswagen, also plans a factory in Michigan, but this project is also under increased scrutiny.

Volkswagen has already faced delays in importing cars into US ports due to these components containing parts from blacklisted companies. Additionally, the company has been heavily criticized by lawmakers over a factory in Xinjiang that is operated jointly with a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

The VW preferred share fell by 0.57 percent to 113.45 euros in XETRA trading. The Ford share temporarily lost 0.12 percent in NYSE trading and was quoted at 12.06 US dollars.