Poland

Volkswagen Samochody Dostawcze responds to the coronavirus pandemic and suspends vehicle production.

Regulations in this area will enter into force starting from Thursday (March 19, 2020) and initially will be in force for two weeks. The decision concerns the plants in Hannover (T6.1, Amarok and eCrafter), Poznań and Swarzędz (Poland; Caddy and T6.1) and Września (Poland; Crafter). The reason for suspending the production is protecting the health of all employees, the uncertain situation in the light delivery vehicle markets and the unstable situation within the supply chains of our subcontractors.

Thomas Sedran, president of the Management Board of Volkswagen Samochody Dostawcze: “The coronavirus-induced pandemic obviously affects our entire business: supply chains, our production, sales, and our distribution and service partners. Therefore, after strict arrangements with our plant councils and among the group’s companies, Volkswagen Samochody Dostawcze decided to suspend production in all three production centres. This is the only reasonable decision not to expose our employees to unnecessary risk to their health.”

Jens Ocksen, president of the Management Board of Volkswagen Poznań Sp. z o.o.: “It was a difficult, but absolutely right decision. The health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority. We have a difficult time ahead of us that touches every sphere of our lives. The Volkswagen Poznań crew has confirmed many times that we stick together, through good and bad, and here I would like to thank all the employees.”

Jolanta Musielak, member of the Management Board for HR and Organization: “For many days, we have been introducing further preventive measures in our facilities and constantly monitoring the situation. Today we have taken another step in the fight against the threat. To give a clear signal to our crew, we made the responsible decision to stop production at the plants.”

Talks are currently conducted with the representation of the employees.

Piotr Olbryś Chairman of OM NSZZ "Solidarność" Volkswagen Poznań: “The situation we are in is extraordinary and requires extraordinary measures. We consider the decision to suspend production to be the only right one. Talks are currently underway to secure jobs and wages while production is suspended.”

Also, production in the Foundry, where components for the VW vehicles are made, i.e. cylinder heads, steering gear housings, suspension components and clutch housings, will be suspended starting from Saturday.

The activities undertaken concern approx. 24,000 employees of Volkswagen Samochody Dostawcze in Germany and in Poland.

About Volkswagen Poznań
Today, Volkswagen Poznań is the largest vehicle producer in Poland and the largest employer in Greater Poland employing over 11,000 people in four plants. Every day, 1,170 new delivery vehicles, i.e. VW Caddy, VW Transporter, VW Crafter and MAN TGE vehicles, including electric vehicles, leave the production lines of the plants located in Poznań, Swarzędz and Września. In 2019, a total of 266,127 delivery vehicles left the plants.

Apart from the vehicle production, Volkswagen Poznań also owns the Foundry, which closed last year with 4.2 million aluminium components produced: cylinder heads, steering gear housings, suspension components and clutch housings. In September 2019, the foundry started the serial production of a gear housing for the modular MEB platform for electric vehicles. This is the first component from the portfolio of the Poznań foundry to be built into an electric VW model.