A staffing company for Volkswagen's Chattanooga assembly plant said Monday the automaker has indicated it's "business as usual" for now in the wake of the emissions-rigging scandal.
Lucas Hiler of VW contractor Aerotek said it's "maintaining the headcount" of about 200 workers who were hired this summer in connection with the $900 million expansion underway at the factory.
TDI look-up tool
Volkswagen on Monday set up an online tool to help owners find out if their diesel vehicle is affected by the emissions-rigging issue using their vehicle identification number. To find the tool, go to www.vwdieselinfo.com.
"To my knowledge, we're in a maintenance position," said the official for Aerotek, which is doing all the hiring for new production workers for VW. "We're in a holding stage in that headcount."
New employees are initially hired by Aerotek and can become full-fledged VW workers after at least six months.
Hiler said Aerotek's VW hiring website remains up on the Internet.
In June, VW announced it was embarking on its biggest hiring effort since 2012 by adding the 200 jobs, pushing its plant headcount to about 2,600. The production jobs were the first of 2,000 new positions the company had announced last year it was creating in Chattanooga.
The company also has hired about 70 employees for its engineering and planning center.
But questions have arisen since the emissions scandal was revealed in late September when the company conceded it installed a so-called defeat device in software on many of its diesel models so it could pass Environmental Protection Agency standards.
New Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller later said the company will delay or cancel non-essential projects to cut spending.
On Monday, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported the company wants to extract $3.41 billion in price cuts from its suppliers to help mitigate the costs of the scandal.
A Volkswagen spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and analyst at Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, said it's "a reasonable concern" that employment may be affected at the Chattanooga plant.
The diesel Passat once made up about 29 percent of total U.S. sales of the sedan that's built at the Chattanooga factory, according to Kelley.
But Nerad said he questioned if the scandal will be a big negative for the plant.
The Passat, which is refreshed for the 2016 model year, is in a key segment in which VW wants to have higher market share, he said.
"There's a lot riding on it doing better than in the past," Nerad said.
Also, the company is ramping up to make a new sport utility vehicle in a little more than a year at the plant.
Still, some industry observers believe the damage to the VW group's reputation may go beyond what happened to Toyota a few years ago with its sudden acceleration problem with some of its models.
VW is spending a total of $900 million, including more than $600 million in Chattanooga, to develop the new SUV and expand the plant.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.