Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand is gradually suspending production at its European plants due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As with other carmakers, the company is facing challenges with supply chains and the impending rapid decline in demand.
The production facilities in Wolfsburg, Emden, Dresden, Osnabrück, Zwickau, Bratislava (Slovakia), Pamplona (Spain) and Palmela (Portugal) are affected, as well as the Components plants at Brunswick, Chemnitz, Hanover, Kassel, Salzgitter and Sitech too. Initially, the factories will remain closed for two weeks.
Zwickau plant
The spread of coronavirus in Europe is increasingly having an adverse impact on the demand situation. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to supply our plants with outsourced parts. For this reason, we have decided to run production down in a coordinated way from the end of the late shift on Thursday. We are convinced that this will also be in the interests of our employees who are becoming increasingly concerned about the spread of corona. – Ralf Brandstätter, Chief Operation Officer, Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand
Works Council Chairman Bernd Osterloh welcomed the suspension of production: “At times when people can no longer meet on playgrounds or for concerts, go to church or visit restaurants in the evening and are no longer buying cars, and Volkswagen has supply problems, production cannot simply continue as if nothing had happened”.
The company canteens, self-service shops, cafeterias, bistros, restaurants and catering services will be closed too. All meetings will be held via Skype or video calls.
ID.3 production at Zwickau plant
Furthermore, employees returning to Germany from other countries after March 14 are forbidden from entering the plant sites and other facilities of Volkswagen during the incubation period of 14 weekdays.
The measures also include a general halt to business trips – for all plants and also to other countries. This also applies to trips between locations. The internal shuttle flights between locations have already been halted.
Recommended for you
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments that are unrelated to the post above get automatically filtered into the trash bin.
