After floods in Slovenia
VW is cutting back on production due to a lack of engine parts
September 11, 2023, 8:27 a.m
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The recent floods in southern Europe also have consequences for Germany: Because an engine parts supplier in Slovenia is affected, sprockets for combustion engines are now missing. Shifts are now being canceled in the VW plants.
Due to a lack of engine parts from Slovenia, Volkswagen now has to adapt its production in Wolfsburg. “From Monday, September 11th, individual shifts will be canceled at the Wolfsburg plant,” said a spokesman. Production was also cut back in Emden and Osnabrück. The Portuguese plant in Palmela near Lisbon had even announced that it would stop assembly completely 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.
According to the spokesman, all four assembly lines are affected alternately by the failures in Wolfsburg, where the Golf and Tiguan are primarily 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 IAA Mobility motor show in Munich that a plan would be in place by the end of September as to how things should proceed. “At the end of the year the issue was resolved.”