The Mexico plant will be closed for as long as two weeks, during which the 9,400 workers employed at the facility will cease production in a series of short term stoppages, Autonews reported. Volkswagen hopes this will be its last production freeze of this year.
"Things are a lot better for us than they are for others," Consuelo Minutti, Volkswagen spokeswoman told the source. "Global markets have shrunk and that affects us, but less severely than it has done for others." The spokeswoman confirmed that the closure does not come as a result of the swine flu outbreak.
The closure of the Mexico plant comes as a result of the dreadful situation in which the US economy finds itself in. Most of the cars produced in Mexico are destined for the US market. The sales of Volkswagen badged cards in the US have dropped by 16.7 percent this year.
The plant operated by the German manufacturer in Mexico is located in Puebla, in Central Mexico. The facility's production output rates at 1,500 units every day, amounting to 450,000 units in 2008.
As for the worldwide forecast, Volkswagen expects a decline of up to 10 percent in 2009 in sales, yet it hopes it will register profit this year. And even in the US, according to a report by J.D. Power and Associates, “Industry sales are starting to show signs of stability-albeit at levels near 30-year lows- as the retail sales SAAR has been at or near the 7.8 million-unit level for the past three months,”
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