Volkswagen to start building e-vehicles in three shifts again

The car manufacturer Volkswagen felt the effects of the war in Ukraine started by Russia after only a few days. Work had to be suspended at the all-electric car plant in Zwickau, where almost 10,000 people are employed. Now they are starting up again.

Volkswagen resumes 3-shift operations for the production of its six e-models in Zwickau today, Monday. With the start of the Ukraine war, production was interrupted for around three weeks in March due to disrupted supply chains. On 29 March, production started on the early and late shifts and around 900 vehicles a day. Dr Stefan Loth, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen Sachsen, commented as follows: "The parts supply is now so stable again that we now have additional capacity in Zwickau with the third shift to work off the high order backlog."

There has also been a break in production at the Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden, although this was not addressed in VW's latest announcement. The Zwickau plant is of immense importance for VW's electric strategy. It is, after all, VW's largest location for electric vehicles in Europe. The ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron and Cupra Born models come off the production line in Zwickau. Daily production in three shifts is around 1,300 vehicles.

In addition, the manufacturer is pushing ahead with the orientation of its plants towards electromobility. With the start of production of the all-electric ID.4 in Emden, Volkswagen is expanding its global production network for e-cars. After Zwickau and the Chinese plants in Anting and Foshan, Emden is now the second German E-location. Chattanooga (ID.4) and Hanover are also to be launched this year. These advances mean that VW has been able to adjust the quota system for allocating e-cars to dealers.