JABAR EKSPRES – German car giant Volkswagen has cut production of its electric vehicles in Europe due to lower-than-expected demand.
The Drive website on Thursday (6/29) local time reported Volkswagen had canceled two weeks of shifts on German production lines and extended the vacation of ID.4 assembly line workers by one week.
Head of the Factory Workers’ Council Manfred Wulff said the measures were linked to a drop in demand for electric vehicles as customer demand was said to be 30 percent lower than planned production.
“We are experiencing strong customer reluctance in the electric vehicle sector,” Wulff said as reported by Autocar from Germany’s North West newspaper.
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Despite the drop in demand, Australia remains on the waiting list for any Volkswagen electric cars, including the first ID.4 model which is still six to 12 months away or around 2024, and three years after it goes on sale in Europe.
VW headquarters is said to have prioritized electric vehicle production for Europe, where automakers will be penalized if they do not strictly meet vehicle emission standards.
This does not exist in Australia, which VW says pushed the market down the priority list.
The start of production of the Volkswagen ID.7 electric sedan is also rumored to have been pushed back from July 2023 to later this year due to production cuts.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the ID.4 plant in Emden (the production plant for the gasoline-powered Passat) said it was not affected by the electric car production cuts.
“We are confident that plant utilization will increase again with the launch of the ID.7 at the end of the year,” he said.
About 300 of the 1,500 temporary workers employed at the German plant will not have their contracts renewed after they expire in August, reports Autocar.
