VW in Wolfsburg: High demand leads to additional shifts until Christmas!

VW in Wolfsburg: High demand leads to additional shifts until Christmas!

The pre-Christmas period will not only be contemplative but also busy for the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg. How news38.de reports that demand for popular models such as the Tiguan, Golf and Tayron is increasing significantly. In order to meet the high demand, VW plans to introduce additional special shifts until Christmas.

The workforce has already been informed about the new plans. All four assembly lines in the plant are affected, and there will be extra work, especially on weekends. Assembly line 4, which produces vehicles such as the Tiguan and Tayron, will be expanded with additional night shifts, including the paint shop in Hall 9. Additional night shifts are also planned in the paint shop in Hall 15b on Fridays and Sundays.

Details about the special shifts

Assembly lines 2 and 3, which are responsible for Golf production, will not have night shifts, but will have additional Saturday morning shifts. The areas of factory logistics, factory control, quality assurance and tire assembly are also affected by the planned special shifts. These measures are part of an initiative that was implemented as part of an agreement between management and the works council until the factory holidays in July tagesschau.de reported.

Demand has risen particularly sharply in Western Europe, with new orders increasing by 29 percent. This development is also reflected in the sales figures: Volkswagen sold a total of 4.8 million vehicles in 2024, with the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi brands being the most successful. However, the group also faces challenges, including a decline in vehicle sales in China and generally weak market development in Europe.

Volkswagen's challenges

In the context of these challenges, considerations are being given to job cuts: by 2030, over 35,000 jobs in Germany are to be cut in a socially acceptable manner. Despite record sales in 2024, market shares have fallen—particularly in Asia, where China is considered one of VW's largest markets. Loud Statista New car registrations in the EU in 2024 were around 18.4 percent below the 2019 level.

In order to overcome the challenges, Volkswagen is restructuring its product range, which also includes a new electric car under 20,000 euros. The aim is to open up a market that has so far been little served. Despite these difficult circumstances, Volkswagen remains optimistic, thanks to strategic decisions and a focus on future mobility, especially e-mobility and autonomous driving.

A look at past sales figures shows that Volkswagen and especially the Porsche and Audi brands sold fewer vehicles in 2024, while Skoda and Seat were able to increase their sales figures. The share of electric cars in total deliveries still needs to be improved at a good eight percent, which further motivates VW to further push forward with electrification.

The upcoming special shifts, both on Saturdays and at night, could not only represent a response to increasing demand, but also a step in the right direction for the group, which increasingly has to assert itself in a changing market.