VW Halts Part of Mexican Plant

In spite of fairly decent financial results in this difficult economic environment, Volkswagen announced it will suspend the work of a part of its Mexican plant starting next week. The partial closure will last until early August, a union spokesman told Reuters, with one third of union workers to be off work for around two weeks. However, Volkswagen will still pay 50 percent of their salaries for 10 of these days, he added.

Volkswagen's Puebla plant is the only production facility the German brand owns in North America, with many of the models rolled out its assembly assembly lines delivered to the US, Canada and even Europe. It is responsible for the production of several cars, including Bora and New Beetle.

And speaking of the North American market, VW is also relying on the Chattanooga production facility expected to start production in 2011. The plant is likely to build the company's mid-size sedan for North America and will employ 2,000 workers, officials of the company announced in May. It will have a maximum capacity of 150,000 units per year, with 30 percent of the cars to roll off its assembly lines to be powered by VW's TDI Clean Diesel Technology.

"Our own car production 'made in America' is an important core element of our growth strategy on the U.S. market. That is why today is a major milestone for the Volkswagen Group. The automobile will always be an essential part of the American way of life. Despite the present situation on world markets, the U.S. market will recover and Volkswagen will be ready when that happens," said Prof. Dr. Heizmann.

"Our new plant in Chattanooga sends a clear and strong message for Volkswagen, for the automotive industry and for the state of Tennessee. The United States is a great car nation and we believe in a promising future for Volkswagen here."