VW plant expects to produce 53,000 fewer cars in 2022
In an internal statement dated November 30, the Autoeuropa Workers' Committee said that the drop in production is due to the crisis in the supply of semiconductors.
Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa plant in Portugal expects to produce 204,000 cars in 2022, 53,000 fewer than its capacity, and may give up the 4th shift, the Workers Committee said in a statement on Thursday.
In an internal statement dated November 30, the Autoeuropa Workers’ Committee said that the drop in production is due to the crisis in the supply of semiconductors, which has affected the entire automotive industry, and warned that the possible end of the 4th shift puts the future of 900 workers at Volkswagen’s car factory in Palmela at risk.
According to the committee, the information about the drop in production in 2022 was transmitted by the management in the company during the negotiation process of a new labour pre-agreement, which began on November 10.
However, the committee pointed out that although it considers that the 4th shift will not be necessary for the production volume foreseen for 2022, the factory management also communicated its intention to maintain the four teams (one team per shift) in the company’s workforce.
It also stated that to achieve this goal, Autoeuropa’s management said that new flexibility tools are needed to make it financially viable to maintain all jobs without compromising competitiveness, productivity and other plant indicators.
In the information sent to Autoeuropa employees, the committee also said that 64 days of stoppage are planned for next year, including 22 holidays, 22 down-days and a further 20 days of stoppage for which the necessary flexibility tools will have to be found.
