VW workers urge faster electric vehicle rollout at world’s largest biggest car factory | Fin24

The Wolfsburg factory produced about 780 000 cars annually on average over the past 10 years.

• Volkswagen’s (VW) main plant in Wolfsburg might face
  historically low output this year and needs a faster shift toward electric
  vehicles to remain competitive.
• The rollout of electric car, Trinity, due in 2026 may be too
  late, according to VW officials.
• Furthermore, a global chip shortage also happens
  manufacturing at Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen’s (VW) main plant in Wolfsburg might face historically
low output this year and needs a faster shift toward electric vehicles to
remain competitive, according to the German automaker’s top labour officials.

The planned production of an electric car – dubbed Trinity –
is set to roll off assembly lines in 2026, which is too late to ensure
sufficient utilisation of the site, VW works council chief Daniela Cavallo and
her deputy Gerardo Scarpino said in a joint statement on Saturday.

“The location needs a quicker way toward e-mobility,”
Cavallo said.

The global chip shortage hampers manufacturing at the
sprawling Wolfsburg factory, which produced about 780 000 cars annually on
average over the past 10 years and covers an area as big as Monaco.

VW Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess has pitted the site
against Tesla’s factory that’s under construction outside Berlin and is slated
to start production next year. VW plans to upgrade Wolfsburg with the latest
electric-vehicle technology and software operations.

Due to the persistent scarcity of semiconductor chips, the
output at Wolfsburg this year could even fall below the level of 2020, when the
Covid-19 pandemic pushed production to just below 500 000 cars, according to VW’s
works council. VW’s initial goal agreed in a labour pact five years ago was to
make at least 820 000 vehicles in Wolfsburg last year.

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