The news is advanced by Público newspaper, citing the leader of product management and planning at AutoEuropa, Markus Haupt. As explained by the same interlocutor, in statements published in the company's newspaper, the measure aims to "face the orders of customers".
Also according to Público, AutoEuropa currently produces between 26 to 27 T-Roc units per hour, that is, close to 650 cars per day, production distributed over three shifts.
Thanks to the introduction, in early February, of two fixed shifts on Saturday, the Palmela plant will be able to increase the number of units produced for the 28 to 29 vehicles , that is, 7.7% more, until next September.
Remember that the last known estimate of the company pointed to a production, just this year, around the 183,000 Volkswagen T-Roc . Also including the Sharan and SEAT Alhambra models, the Palmela plant is expected to produce, in 2018, a total of 240 thousand vehicles, in other words, more than twice as much as in 2017.
Production is expected to increase further from August onwards, with the introduction of a new work model consisting of 19 shifts instead of the current 17, involving Sundays and continuous production.
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Automobile production in Portugal accelerates growth
The growth trend encompasses the entire Portuguese automobile industry, which, according to data released by the Automobile Association of Portugal (ACAP), ended the first quarter of 2018, with an increase of 88.9%, that is, a total of 72 347 units produced.
Dominating production, passenger cars, whose production grew 133.9% compared to the same period in 2017, while heavy goods fell again, 29.1%.
In March alone, Portugal produced a total of 18 554 light vehicles, an increase of 93.8% compared to the same period of 2017, against only 4098 light goods (+0.9%) and 485 heavy vehicles (-26, 3%).