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An Update on Volkswagen Group’s Temporary Production Suspension

26 Mar 2020

source: Volkswagen Group

Editor’s note: We reported back on March 17th that Audi’s European plants were to suspend production for at least two weeks. Volkswagen Group just sent out a communique stating the Group’s German plants will be closed until at least April 9th. Here’s the release:

Volkswagen Extends Suspension of Production

  • At the German plants of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Group Components, production has been suspended for a further four days until April 9.
  • Volkswagen is responding especially to the fall in demand on the automobile market and the challenges faced by the supply chain
  • At the same time, Volkswagen is working to resume production as soon as possible
  • Tostmann: “We are working on a comprehensive package of measures so that we can start to produce vehicles again soon.”

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Group Components are extending the suspension of production at their German plants for four working days especially as a result of the continued fall in demand for vehicles and the challenges faced by the supply chain. An application for an extension of short-time working for a total of 80,000 employees of Volkswagen AG has been submitted. It is planned to end short-time working with the night shift of April 9 to 10. The plants affected are Dresden, Emden, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg and Zwickau as well as the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles plant in Hanover, the plants of Volkswagen Group Components at Brunswick, Kassel, Salzgitter, Chemnitz and Hanover and the German plants of SITECH. At the same time, the company is preparing intensively for the resumption of production. In this context, the protection of employees will once again be significantly strengthened.

Andreas Tostmann, Member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management responsible for Production and Logistics, says: “The health of our employees has the highest priority. We will ensure that they can return to safe workplaces when production and logistics activities are resumed. In our task force, we are working on a comprehensive package of measures. In this context, we are also incorporating our experience in China where almost all our plants have now resumed production and the market seems to be gradually returning to normal. To date, there has not been a single case of corona among our employees in China.”