Ending marathon talks, German carmaker Volkswagen and two of its suppliers of crucial components have reached an agreement to end days of production disruptions at several VW plants across the country.
A VW spokesman confirmed Tuesday the carmaker had reached an agreement with component suppliers Automobilguss and Cartrim – both belonging to the Prevent business group.
“The locations affected by the recent disruptions are preparing to resume production as soon as possible,” he added after the end of emergency talks, which started Monday noon.
Deliveries of crucial components would be resumed “shortly,” the negotiators said in a statement, with both sides agreeing not to provide any details of their settlement.
Back to normal?
Around 28,000 workers at six VW facilities had seen their work hours slashed as Automobilguss and Cartrim suspended deliveries of gearbox parts and seat covers, with the move hitting production of Passat sedans and Golf compacts.
The suppliers in question had claimed VW broke off several contracts with no advance warning or adequate compensation, leaving them “with no choice but to suspend deliveries to protect the workforce.”
Germany’s business daily “Handelsblatt” had reported that VW had been seeking concessions from all of its suppliers as it struggled to cope with the fallout of its large-scale emissions cheating scandal.
hg/jd (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
