VOLKSWAGEN will pause manufacturing of its T-Roc small SUV for as much as 9 weeks as heavy flooding causes an interruption to engine provides on the producer’s Slovenian and Portuguese vegetation.
In line with reviews, different fashions throughout VW’s European community can also be impacted by the pure catastrophe. It’s understood employees at each services shall be stood down briefly in the course of the shutdown.
A Volkswagen Group spokesperson informed media this week it’s “working with different suppliers to seek out alternate options to return to regular manufacturing within the affected plant(s) as shortly as potential” however didn’t identify the alternate provider.
“With the assistance of our worldwide provider community, part availability has been secured to date,” mentioned the spokesperson in an announcement.
“Nevertheless, it’s to be anticipated in the middle of September that not all part and car vegetation could be sufficiently provided, so manufacturing losses are to be anticipated.”
The manufacturing losses are understood to be focused on vegetation constructing combustion engines for Volkswagen fashions.
Final yr, Volkswagen manufactured some 231,000 examples of the T-Roc at its Setubal (Portugal) plant.
Slovenian producer KLS Ljubno is alleged to be one of many major suppliers impacted by current flooding. The ring gear producer provides elements to “greater than 80 per cent of Europe’s automotive market”, which means additional manufacturing interruptions throughout different producers are probably.
KLS Ljubno CEO, Mirko Strasak, mentioned flooding had “inundated the manufacturing facility with water and dirt, inflicting harm estimated at €100 million ($A167m)”. It’s understood that water broken delicate devices and digital gadgets that can must be changed.
Mr Strasek mentioned the corporate hopes to supply replacements and restart manufacturing someday in October.
The T-Roc was one among a number of Volkswagen Group fashions hit exhausting by microprocessor shortages in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provides of the car had been starting to return to regular earlier than the Slovenian flooding impacted manufacturing earlier this week.
Volkswagen Australia informed GoAuto that the impact on native provide of the T-Roc is prone to be minimal with ample provides within the nation and extra autos en route. Any updates shall be suggested as quickly as info comes at hand.
