Volkswagen is giving its German workers nearly a month off over Christmas and the New Year in the wake of an emissions scandal that has hurt sales and staff morale, according to CNN.
A spokesman for the automaker confirmed that production at all Volkswagen’s plants in Germany would cease on Dec. 17 and resume Jan. 11. The one exception will be lines producing the new generation of its Tiguan SUV – they’ll close on Dec. 21 and resume output on Jan. 4.
The company typically shuts down in Germany between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, although the exact length of the holiday can vary from year to year.
VW employs nearly 600,000 people around the world, more than 250,000 of them in Germany.
The spokesman said the main reason for the longer closure this year was that most plants had already achieved their production targets for the year, but market conditions and the need to carry out maintenance work were also factors.