Volkswagen Group Pauses EV Production at Zwickau Plant on Lower Demand

By David Sachs

Volkswagen Group will temporary pause production of two electric car models and curtail production of others in October because of lower-than-expected demand.

The German car maker will stop making the Volkswagen ID.3 and the Cupra Born models at its factory in Zwickau, Germany, from Oct. 2 to Oct. 13 due to flagging demand, a spokesman said.

The company's Dresden plant, the last stop on the ID.3 production line, will pause as a result and restart Oct. 16.

Production of Audi models and other Volkswagen brand cars at the Zwickau factory will slow down for two weeks as well, the spokesman said.

"We are forced to change our production plans in order to [reconcile] the market situation, and at the moment there is uncertainty in the market," he said.

On Sept. 14, Volkswagen said it would cut 269 jobs from the Zwickau factory because of low demand.

From January through August, Volkswagen Group car sales in the European Union rose 23% compared to the prior-year period, to 1.9 million, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Electric vehicle sales surpassed 20% of EU car sales in August for the first time, the industry group said.

Write to David Sachs at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2023 09:58 ET (13:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.