Floods halt Volkswagen T-Roc production

VOLKSWAGEN will pause production of its T-Roc small SUV for up to nine weeks as heavy flooding causes an interruption to engine supplies at the manufacturer’s Slovenian and Portuguese plants.

According to reports, other models across VW’s European network may also be impacted by the natural disaster. It is understood workers at both facilities will be stood down temporarily during the shutdown.

A Volkswagen Group spokesperson told media this week it is “working with other suppliers to find alternatives to return to normal production in the affected plant(s) as quickly as possible” but did not name the alternate supplier.

“With the help of our worldwide supplier network, component availability has been secured so far,” said the spokesperson in a statement.

“However, it is to be expected in the course of September that not all component and vehicle plants can be sufficiently supplied, so production losses are to be expected.”

The production losses are understood to be concentrated on plants building combustion engines for Volkswagen models.

Last year, Volkswagen manufactured some 231,000 examples of the T-Roc at its Setubal (Portugal) plant.

Slovenian manufacturer KLS Ljubno is said to be one of the main suppliers impacted by recent flooding. The ring gear manufacturer supplies parts to “more than 80 per cent of Europe’s automotive market”, meaning further production interruptions across other manufacturers are likely.

KLS Ljubno CEO, Mirko Strasak, said flooding had “inundated the factory with water and mud, causing damage estimated at €100 million ($A167m)”. It is understood that water damaged sensitive instruments and electronic devices that will need to be replaced.

Mr Strasek said the company hopes to source replacements and restart production sometime in October.

The T-Roc was one of several Volkswagen Group models hit hard by microprocessor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplies of the vehicle had been beginning to return to normal before the Slovenian flooding impacted production earlier this week.

Volkswagen Australia told GoAuto that the effect on local supply of the T-Roc is likely to be minimal with ample supplies in the country and more vehicles en route. Any updates will be advised as soon as information comes to hand.