Volkswagen Faces IT Outage, Halting Vehicle Production in Germany – Reuters

FRANKFURT – Volkswagen experienced a significant IT outage on Wednesday, which halted production at its namesake brand in Germany.

As Europe’s leading car manufacturer, Volkswagen reported that the entire group, which includes Audi and Porsche, was affected by the disruption. An Audi representative confirmed the impact on their production, stating that they were currently assessing the extent of the issue. Porsche had no immediate comments regarding the situation.

This incident comes as Volkswagen is already facing production challenges at its all-electric Zwickau plant, where there has been a dip in demand for battery-powered vehicles, potentially leading to a change in the established three-shift system.

The company indicated that there was a specific “IT malfunction of network components” at its primary site in Wolfsburg, Germany. The outage also impacted additional locations in Emden, Osnabrueck, Hanover, Dresden, and Zwickau, along with component factories in Braunschweig, Kassel, Chemnitz, and Salzgitter.

According to company statements, the issue began at 12:30 p.m. (CET) and is currently being analyzed. They acknowledged that there are implications for vehicle manufacturing facilities. Fortunately, the company noted that initial analyses suggest an external attack is unlikely to be behind the system malfunction. Volkswagen is prioritizing efforts to resolve the problem and has already initiated corrective measures.