Volkswagen debuts new model at Vietnam Motor Show with nine-dash line

Do Nguyen Vuong, General Director of Volkswagen Vietnam, said the parent company in Germany instructed its Vietnamese branch to import the new Touareg model from China so it can be re-exported after the exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City.

He said all Touaregs in the world are manufactured in Slovakia, Central Europe. So, when customers buy the new model, the SUV would be imported from Slovakia with no fraudulent nine-dash line map.

"Currently, the car's navigation app has been deactivated and will be re-exported on time in accordance with Vietnam customs law," he said.

According to Vietnam Register's records, the 2020 Volkswagen Touareg model was temporarily imported earlier this month and scheduled to be re-exported in February 2020.

Last Sunday, a visitor to the motor show noticed the nine-dash line map in the navigation app of the car.

Since the motor show also ended on the same day, the company no longer needed the car for display and will re-export it earlier than expected.

China's nine-dash line claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer East Sea, known internationally as South China Sea. It has been strongly opposed by the international community. Apart from violating Vietnam’s sovereignty, it overlaps with claims by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Last week, the Vietnam Register ordered a Vietnamese car distributor of four made-in-China vehicles including Zotye and Baic, to remove the infamous map from its cars since they included the nine-dash line map.

Earlier this month, Vietnam banned online game Onmyoji developed by Chinese firm NetEase and stopped screening Dreamworks' animation movie "Abominable" since they both showed the nine-dash line.