“Volkswagen Autoeuropa foresees the suspension of production, due to the lack of components. The shutdown is planned for the first half of September and is due to last for a few weeks. At the origin of the problem is the lack of parts produced by a supplier in Slovenia and which are essential for building engines. This supplier was severely affected by the floods that occurred in early August”, wrote the company and reported by CNN Portugal.
In the same note, the management of the factory unit, in Palmela, of the German car manufacturer guarantees that it is “following the situation” and “working to find alternatives with other suppliers to return to normal production in the affected factories as soon as possible".
Already in March of this year, the lack of parts forced the largest car factory in the country – with 5,000 workers – to stop production for two days. At that time, the T-Roc SUV assembly line, the only model produced by the Volkswagen Group in Portugal, was prevented from operating.
This stoppage takes place three months after the director general of Autoeuropa announced, in an interview with Público, that from 2025 the factory in Palmela will produce a new hybrid Volkswagen model, which will hit the market in 2026.
In 2022, Autoeuropa recorded the second-best year of production ever, with 231,100 units