Volkswagen Chattanooga won’t resume production May 3 as officials had earlier projected.
Company officials said Wednesday that they’ll evaluate the plant’s supplier base, market demand, and the status of the COVID-19 outbreak before setting a new date.
The factory suspended production March 21 prior to stay-at-home mandates from state and local government out of what officials termed an abundance of caution.
(READ MORE: Volkswagen sales drop as coronavirus puts on brakes)
Volkswagen employees and production contractors received full pay and benefits for a total of three additional weeks of compensation.
On April 11, about 2,500 production and maintenance employees were placed on temporary emergency furlough. Furloughed employees continued to receive health care benefits and coverage of premiums during this time.
The company said it will continue the work to start production from an organizational perspective and refine and strengthen the health and safety measures to safeguard its 3,800 employees who work in Chattanooga.
Earlier this month, Volkswagen said the emergency unpaid furloughs weren’t expected to last no more than four weeks.
“Our primary objective is to protect the financial health of Volkswagen for the benefit of our team as we address the emerging and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on our industry,” Volkswagen Chattanooga CEO Tom du Plessis said then.
The VW Chattanooga CEO said the company is committed to preserving jobs.
“During this time we will be intensely focused on preparing to reopen in a responsible way, ensuring our team has the opportunity to return to work safely and as quickly as practicable,” he said.
Christy Gillenwater, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s CEO and president, said the community is a resilient one.
“We’ll get out of this,” she said of the area furloughs. “There will be light at the end of the tunnel.”
The plant assembles the Passat midsize sedan, the Atlas SUV and Atlas Cross Sport SUV.
Last November, VW broke ground in Chattanooga on an $800 million expansion to build electric vehicles. Work has continued on that project despite the production plant’s shut down.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTPF.