Volkswagen Will Make A Third Production Stop At The Taubaté Factory In The Vale Do Paraíba Due To A Lack Of Supplies For The Gol And Voyage Models

Due to a Second Wave of Covid-19 in Malaysia, Volkswagen Will Suspend a Good Part of Production at Its Taubaté Plant for the Third Time, Harming Sales of the Gol and Voyage

The multinational Volkswagen will make a third suspension of the Taubaté plant, in the Vale do Paraíba, due to a lack of equipment for the production of the Gol and Voyage models. The reason this time is Covid-19, but not in the city of Taubaté and rather in Malaysia, far from here, where a new wave of the virus led the country to declare lockdown.

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Taubaté Plant Will Be Suspended for 10 Days

Due to the lockdown, the production of electronic components, which are used in the production of the Gol and Voyage, was suspended there, affecting the supply of chips to the Volkswagen plant in Taubaté, here in Brazil.

The closure of ports in Malaysia, a country with two territories divided by the South China Sea, prevents the components from being exported to other countries, even if they are produced. Therefore, the Volkswagen plant in Taubaté will have the production of the Gol and Voyage suspended for 10 days, starting from the 30th of this month, according to information provided by the local union.

Third Suspension of the Taubaté Plant This Year

The plant was closed due to a lack of semiconductor chips from June 7 to 16. Shortly after, it was suspended from July 2 to 12. During this second shutdown, Volkswagen issued a clarification note regarding the reason for the suspension of the plant.

According to the multinational, the shortage of semiconductor chips leads to various supply bottlenecks in several global industries and has caused problems in the supply of the automotive industry worldwide this year. The result of the chip absence would be various transitions throughout the vehicle production sector, which also impacts Volkswagen’s brands.

In ABC, Volkswagen maintains one shift in operation and provided collective vacation for the others, while at the São Carlos and São José dos Pinhais units, they operate with only one work period.

As a result, the supply of the Gol and Voyage models will remain reduced in the automotive market, as well as other models from the automaker, which fell from second to third place in last month’s sales ranking, surpassed by Toyota. In São Bernardo do Campo, the multinational produces the Saveiro, Virtus, Polo, and Nivus models, while the Fox and T-Cross are produced in Paraná.

Volkswagen Removes Multimedia Center from the Fox Due to Chip Shortage

The multimedia center, which is also used in the Gol, was removed from the Fox due to the semiconductor crisis. The component featured a touchscreen and compatibility with Apple Car Play and Android Auto, making it one of the best options on the market.

Instead of the component, there will not even be a simple radio, only a black plastic cover. Although the vehicle will come without its main attraction, it will also hit the stores with a discount of R$ 1,560. Thus, its two versions, Connect and Xtreme, will retail for R$ 61,690 and R$ 67,430, respectively.