Volkswagen Closes All Plants in Spain and Prepares To Close Most Other European Plants As Well Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Volkswagen has closed all plants in Spain and plans an imminent close of almost all other plants in Europe due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The President of the German company, Herbert Diess, has announced that it will close the majority of its 77 factories in Europe for a period of two to three weeks. It has already closed the plants in Spain, Portugal and Bratislava. The rest of the plants could be closed this Friday.

“There will be production interruptions in most of the factories of our brands,” Diess said in the presentation of the group’s results. “The crisis in Europe is already here,” he continued.

“Most of the other German and European plants will start preparing to suspend production, probably for two weeks. Individual brands will communicate details of operational plans as soon as possible,” Diess explained.

Volkswagen thus follows the path of other automobile groups, such as PSA and FCA that have already closed in Europe due to the pandemic.