FRANKFURT: Volkswagen has agreed with German labour representatives to cut back on night shifts at Wolfsburg, it said on Wednesday, as it seeks to root out glitches that have stifled output of Golf cars at its largest plant.
Europe's biggest carmaker is struggling to realise hoped for efficiencies from a new modular manufacturing platform, a step that has already led it to make heavy modifications to the production line and to replace its production chief.
Production hiccups in Wolfsburg will cause annual output to be "clearly below" its targeted 850,000 cars, but remain above the 807,000 produced last year, sources familiar with the company have said.
Earlier on Wednesday Bilanz magazine reported that VW's works council had decided to cancel scheduled Sunday shifts during the third quarter, which were planned to help it make up production shortfalls.
Technical glitches prevent the production line at Wolfsburg from running smoothly, so the works council sees little point in moving ahead with the extra shifts, the magazine said.
Asked about the report, VW's works council said the company would continue to run extra shifts on Saturday and Sunday thanks to robust demand for the Golf but that a few night shifts on Sundays had been cancelled.
Volkswagen said it had agreed with labour representatives not to go ahead with six Sunday overnight shifts, out of 19 extra shifts that had been planned in the third quarter.
In addition to normal production, Wolfsburg has already run nine extra shifts this quarter, the company said in a statement.
Production has resumed after the summer break, a time used to complete 270 construction and maintenance projects at the Wolfsburg site, including resurfacing roads and renovating facilities, a spokesman for the company said.
A timetable for shift work in Wolfsburg in the fourth quarter has not yet been drawn up, a spokesman for the works council said on Wednesday. Wolfsburg is VW's global headquarters and a union fortress, with 97 percent of its workforce organised labour.
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