The Vigo plant has suffered the full brunt of the consequences of the public health measures to combat the covidipine pandemic and its severe impact on the supply chain, which has led to a long series of production stoppages due to shortages. All this now seems to be over for good, as the Spanish plant of the Stellantis group prepares to return to maximum production levels.
In fact, on 16 September, the Vigo plant will create a weekend team, the same one that was closed in October 2021 precisely because of the shortage of components. Now, thanks to better visibility and stability in the supply of components, the plant's management has announced that the weekend team will return next September, creating 700 jobs.
The Vigo plant currently employs 5,700 people, a figure that will rise to 6,500 once the weekend team is in place, allowing the Spanish plant to regain its full production capacity, i.e. 2,800 units per day (almost two per minute), thus reducing the particularly long delivery times for the K9 commercial vehicles produced at the plant (Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner, among others), for which demand remains particularly strong and which, thanks to this fourth production team, will be able to make up for the accumulated backlog.
The Vigo plant was approaching its record production levels and was on track to exceed them before the shortage-related shutdowns prevented it from doing so. The production forecasts for the second half of the year and the much improved visibility should enable the Spanish plant to reach or even exceed its historic production volume in 2024.