Sales slump: VW has to temporarily stop production at the Emden plant

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Production of the VW Passat in Emden (archive photo from 2018)

Photo: Jörg Sarbach/DPA

Volkswagen is stopping production at its plant in Emden, East Frisia, for two days. The company announced on Wednesday that both the production of combustion engine models and electric cars would be affected this Thursday and Friday. "The reason for this is the stagnating demand for the Passat model produced in Emden, which will be phased out at the beginning of March," said a spokeswoman in Emden. The works council and the company jointly decided to stop production. The “Emder Zeitung” and the “Ostfriesen-Zeitung” had previously reported.

In order to ensure “synchronous factory driving” at the VW plant in Emden, the production of electric vehicles should also be stopped on the two days, it was said. These shifts will be made up on Saturdays in the second half of the year.

In August last year, VW began series production of the new ID.7 electric sedan in Emden. In addition, the smaller electric compact SUV ID.4 is also being built in the seaport city, as are the combustion engine models Passat, Arteon and Arteon Shooting Brake. Production of the Passat is scheduled to be relocated to the Bratislava plant in a few weeks. Production of the Arteon will gradually be phased out.

Electronic sales are also weakening

The Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), for example, expects new registrations of electric cars to fall by 14 percent to 451,000 vehicles this year. It would be the first decline since the Federal Motor Transport Authority first counted electric cars in 2012. The main reason was the sudden elimination of the state purchase premium, explained VDA chief economist Manuel Kallweit on Tuesday in Berlin. “At the same time, we are in difficult economic waters.”

The higher interest rates make financing new cars more expensive, and leasing rates rise. As a result, consumers are holding back on new purchases. And when they buy a car, it is usually a combustion engine, which is currently significantly cheaper than a comparable electric car. Many manufacturers are trying to stimulate demand with discounts - also for regulatory reasons: in order to comply with the CO₂ limits for their fleets, they are dependent on the sale of electric cars. By 2030, European manufacturers want to sell predominantly electric cars, because from 2035 onwards no new cars with petrol or diesel engines will come onto the market in the European Union. The VDA expects the production of electric cars in Germany to increase by 25 percent.

beb/dpa