Volkswagen to restart Europe plants April 27, report says

Staff photo by Mike Pare / Volkswagen continues work on its $800 million expansion in Chattanooga with plans to make new electric vehicles.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / Volkswagen continues work on its $800 million expansion in Chattanooga with plans to make new electric vehicles.

Volkswagen is planning to restart its factories in Germany on April 27 as the company prepares to gradually ramp up auto production in the wake of the coronavirus, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Last month, VW temporarily closed most of its European production network of factories for its car brands and had set a preliminary date to resume production on April 20, the Journal said.

Last week, Volkswagen Chattanooga temporarily furloughed its 2,500 production and maintenance workers.

Volkswagen said then that the emergency furloughs in Chattanooga were expected to last no more than four weeks and were unpaid. Still, employees were to receive quarterly and monthly bonuses and VW was to continue to provide health care benefits and cover premiums, the company said.

The Chattanooga plant employs a total of about 3,800 people. The factory assembles the Passat sedan, Atlas SUV and Atlas Cross Sport SUV.

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