Due to missing engine parts from Slovenia, the Volkswagen-Group to adapt its production in Wolfsburg. “From Monday, September 11th, individual shifts will be canceled at the Wolfsburg plant,” said a spokesman. The measure was already became known last week. Production was also cut back in Emden and Osnabrück. The Portuguese factory in Palmela near Lisbon even announced that it would completely stop assembly for up to two months starting this Monday.
The reason is the recent flood in Slovenia, which affected an engine parts supplier. According to the company, sprockets for the drive train for combustion engines are now missing. Electric cars, however, are not affected. The standstill at the subcontractor is expected to lead to significant delivery bottlenecks for the VW, Seat and Škoda brands.
Employees go on short-time work
According to the spokesman, all four assembly lines are affected alternately by the failures in Wolfsburg, where the Golf and Tiguan are mainly built. “The reduced driving style initially applies for three weeks.” But it’s always just a matter of individual layers. “There is never a day when all shifts are canceled and the plant is completely at a standstill.” The affected employees go on short-time work.
Production in Emden was throttled back a week ago. According to VW, some shifts have also been canceled in Osnabrück since September 6th. At VW Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, where outages were also announced starting this week, production will still be normal this Monday, as a VW spokesman explained upon request. But failures are imminent there too.
Last week, Purchasing Director Dirk Große-Loheide expressed confidence that the delivery bottleneck would be resolved quickly. He announced on the sidelines of the auto show that a plan would be in place by the end of September as to how things should proceed IAA Mobility in Munich. “At the end of the year the issue was resolved.”