Technical glitch stifles production at Volkswagen

BERLIN, Germany  -German car giant Volkswagen was hit by IT problems at its headquarters in Wolfsburg on Wednesday affecting production at several of its factories, the company said in a statement.

The disruption began at 12:30 pm (1030 GMT) and had still not been resolved by the evening, VW said.

According to financial daily Handelsblatt, production came to a complete standstill in Wolfsburg and at the company’s plants in Emden, Osnabrueck and Zwickau.

Offices at the Wolfsburg headquarters were also affected, Handelsblatt said.

The cause of the technical problems was not known but “an external attack is unlikely to be the cause”, Volkswagen said.

“We are working hard to resolve the problem,” it added.

Volkswagen has been hit by several setbacks lately as it attempts to manage the shift towards electromobility.

The carmaker is pouring tens of billions of euros into its pivot to electric vehicles, but the sector has been blighted by a weak global economy and low levels of demand.

Chief executive Oliver Blume has pledged to “work hard” on cutting costs to boost the group’s performance.

Earlier this month, VW said it was cutting 269 temporary jobs at its flagship electric car plant in Zwickau.

READ: Volkswagen plans 10 more EV models by 2026

The 10-brand group — whose marques include Audi, Seat and Skoda — is facing tough competition in the electric vehicle sector, particularly in key market China.

In the first half of 2023, Volkswagen’s deliveries of vehicles in China were down 1.2 percent compared to the previous year.