It's a race against time, on the Wolfsburg brand, to comply with the new WLTP testing protocol. The decision was announced in a statement by Volkswagen, after a meeting between Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Volkswagen Group and Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Workers' Council.
Remember that the new WLTP standard, replaces the previous and inadequate NEDC, and requires the testing of versions of the same model as well — different wheel sizes and even the optional aesthetic kits imply a specific test.
As for car manufacturers, they may even have to suspend production of some of their models — either to introduce mechanical changes, to stay within the imposed emission limits; or to certify them again, retesting them.
“Only within the Volkswagen brand, we will have to carry out tests on more than 200 versions to be homologated, within the shortest period of time”, comments Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, adding that, “after the vacation in Wolfsburg, we will only make vehicles that already meet the new specifications. they will be delivered, progressively, as the necessary approval is obtained. Even so, we will have to store a considerable number of vehicles, in a provisional perspective”.
The delays verified in the approval are justified, according to Diess, by the more complex and time-consuming test procedures, with a consequent increase in the workload three or four times more than usual.
Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen GroupIn order to overcome this challenge, our testing infrastructures have come, and will continue to be used, virtually against the clock. However, as a way of ensuring that the number of units produced will not be excessive, we will have to establish non-production days in Wolfsburg, in the period between the holidays and the end of September
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The doubt
Volkswagen did not specify, in the released statement, which models will no longer be produced, during the transition and certification period, or even from the moment when the Wolfsburg plant will return to full operation.
