VW plans further cuts in German Passat production

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Passat sales fell 15.5% in Europe last year.

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BERLIN (Reuters) -- Volkswagen plans further temporary halts in production of the Passat in Germany in the coming weeks as a result of the weak European market.

VW said it will halt assembly lines at the plant in Emden on Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 22 and March 1.

"We'll keep monitoring the market situation in Europe very closely," VW spokesman Georg Goericke said, declining to comment on whether the carmaker was bracing for another round of disruptions in March and April.

VW makes about 1,200 vehicles a day at Emden, where workers assemble the sedan, wagon and four-door coupe variants of the Passat. The company already halted production in Emden between December 17-21, 2012.

VW sold 207,273 Passats in Europe last year, down 15.5 percent on 2011, according to market researcher JATO Dynamics.

VW said last week that it would add three Saturday shifts to its main Wolfsburg manufacturing plant to meet strong demand for the new version of its Golf compact hatchback and Tiguan compact SUV.

The additional shifts will enable VW to build an extra 2,000 Golfs, helping to fill roughly 100,000 orders for Europe's top-selling model.

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