Volkswagen takes a production break at its largest plant in Europe, the one in Zwickau. The pause might last for approximately three weeks. This time, not low demand is to blame for the executives deciding to halt production.
The automaker blames instead the shortage of electric motors. The production of e-drives at the Volkswagen Group Components site in Kassel, Germany, is only possible right now to a limited extent.
The limited capacity forces Volkswagen to halt production of the Audi Q4 e-tron, the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, but also of the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 models, that roll off the production line in Zwickau. All of them are underpinned by the MEB architecture.
The only models that are not affected by the issue are the Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born because they still use the older electric motor. Therefore, the production of these two models is going according to plan.
The plant lacks the necessary new APP550 electric motors that power the aforementioned cars due to insufficient supply from the Kassel plant. The issue forces the facility to close down the production lines for as long as three weeks. The move affects more than 1,000 out of around 8,000 employees working at the site. Meanwhile, the supplier will get the necessary time to re-adjust the stock.
Photo: Volkswagen
The APP550 electric motors were introduced earlier this year and were specifically designed for more power and higher torque. The previous motors could go as far as 150 kW (201 horsepower / 204 PS) and 229 lb-ft (310 Nm). The new ones are able to generate 210 kW (282 horsepower / 286 PS) and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of torque.
Volkswagen will reportedly deliver the limited number of APP550 units to the Emden plant, where the ID.4 is also manufactured. That is where the production of the newly launched Volkswagen ID.7 is underway. With big demand for the executive liftback sedan, the automotive group can’t afford to hold it back.
Zwickau is Volkswagen's largest EV production site in Europe. The auto group announced a nearly $1.3 billion investment in 2018 to convert the factory into an all-EV production center. The conversion was carried out in only 26 months.
The group was planning to roll off the assembly line more than 300,000 per year. But with this new bottleneck, things do not really go according to plan, and the target seems to alienate. Three of the Group’s brands currently built six cars there. The vehicle plant covers a total area of 1,800,000 square meters, the equivalent of 252 soccer fields.
Starting 2026, number seven will see the light of day in Zwickau. It will be a business sedan, which is currently codenamed Project Trinity. The model will be based on the upcoming SSP architecture.
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