Volkswagen to Idle U.S. Plant, 1,650 Workers

Volkswagen of America said it will shut down its U.S. car assembly plant for two weeks and idle 1,650 workers.

The wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen A.G. said the facility will be closed for two weeks starting today to adjust inventories.

The 1,650 hourly workers will be laid off until May 11.

Volkswagen’s sales of U.S.-made cars this year have dropped sharply below last year’s figures, a spokeswoman said.

So far this year, sales are down nearly 40 pct compared to last year. The U.S. company has sold a total of 13,218 U.S.-made cars so far this year, down from 21,943 during the same period last year.

In its most recent 10-day sales period, April 11-20, the company sold 30.7 pct fewer cars. It sold a total of 1,167 cars during the period against 1,683 in the same 1986 period.

The spokeswoman also said inventories of Volkswagen’s cars are running as high as 335 day’s supply as of April 20, well above the inventory level of 50 to 60 days supply considered acceptable by the U.S. car industry. The highest inventories are on the company’s new “GT” model.

Stocks of Volkswagen’s 16-valve “GTI” model are 164 days' supply. Inventory levels for other Volkswagen models are as follows–“Golf” gas-powered-87 days, “Golf” diesel-powered 20 days, regular “GTI”-83 days.