VW will ramp up Wolfsburg output after Ukraine supply disruption

BERLIN -- Volkswagen is ramping up production at its main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, starting from next week, after a two-week pause caused by parts shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The automaker will resume some output of the Golf hatchback on Tuesday, a company spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.

Initially, production will start with one shift, rising to a two-shift operation a week later.

Production of the VW Touran and Tiguan and Seat Tarraco models will be at reduced levels during March, with workers on short time, VW said.

VW, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been forced to cut production at their German factories after the Ukraine war disrupted supplies of key wire harnesses built in Ukraine.

VW's plants in Zwickau and Dresden, which build ID electric cars, will take longer to get back to normal.

Zwickau, which produces VW, Audi and Seat Cupra compact EVs, will come back online after Wolfsburg, but not until early April, production director Christian Vollmer said.

"Dresden will also remain closed at the beginning of April," Vollmer said on Wednesday during VW brand's annual media conference.

The launch of the VW ID5, which was due to reach dealers in the first week of April, may be delayed, according to reports.

So far, VW's plants in Emden and Osnabrück plants have not been affected by the supply chain disruption. That is likely to remain the case, Vollmer said. "In Emden, we are getting through as things stand at the moment," he said.

Ukraine still producing

Suppliers from Ukraine are continuing to deliver components on a reduced scale, purchasing boss Murat Aksel said.

At the same time, VW is building up secondary locations in other regions. However, the automaker does not want to withdraw from Ukraine despite the current problems. VW is building up new capacities at other locations as a safety buffer.

"We support our suppliers and will not let them down," Aksel said. "We have a dual strategy."

Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said VW Group has tried to adjust to the shortages by boosting production of wire harnesses in Romania, Hungary, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as in Mexico and China.

"We think within the next few weeks, we will be up to full volume, and then the situation might ease, I think, in the second half of this year, depending on how the war develops," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Duesmann said VW Group had lost a substantial amount of wire harness production in Ukraine that was needed to keep assembly plants running — but amazingly, not all of it.

"Many of our suppliers, especially for wiring harnesses, were in Ukraine, or are in Ukraine. They are desperately — even with the people staying there, which is incredible — trying to produce, and doing so always close to a bomb shelter," Duesmann said. "They try to produce, which is an enormous achievement [for] a really proud and brave people there."