Portugal's VW plant to resume production in October, ahead of schedule

LISBON (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Autoeuropa plant in Portugal will resume limited production in early October, sooner than expected, after it was halted on Sept. 12 due to a shortage of auto parts, a letter to workers seen by Reuters said.

Autoeuropa, which mainly produces the T-Roc compact crossover sports utility model, had previously announced a nine-week stoppage between Sept. 11 and Nov. 12, after its Slovenian supplier was affected by floods.

The company told workers the plant "will resume production at the beginning of October", adding that existing sub-suppliers in the Volkswagen Group's portfolio, including a Chinese and a Spanish company, would make up for some of the regular supplies.

Initially, the number of shifts will be below the normal schedule and workers on layoff will be informed of the exact date to return to work, it said.

The Autoeuropa plant, outside Lisbon, is one of the country's top exporters and, according to its website, had nearly 5,000 workers in 2022, when it produced 231,100 cars.

(Reporting by Patrícia Vicente Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Jane Merriman)