Volkswagen recovers from Slovenian floods - report

"The supply bottlenecks have been resolved as of week 43 (note: this week). From next week, all plants will return to regular operating mode," business daily Handelsblatt quoted a spokesperson for Volkswagen as saying.

Czech carmaker Skoda, part of Volkswagen Group, is also running its assembly lines at the Mlada Boleslav and Kvasiny locations at full capacity and has no restrictions, Handelsblatt reported.

Volkswagen said in an ad-hoc filing with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Friday that it has cut its operating profit forecast for 2023 and the result is expected to stay at the same level as last year, partially due to the supply chain disruptions caused by the floods.

In September, Volkswagen said it reduced production at its German plants in Wolfsburg and Hanover, and completely suspended the output at its Portuguese factory in Palmela as Slovenian supplier KLS Ljubno, which delivers toothed rings for internal combustion engines, was unable to resume production following the floods that ravaged the country on August 4 and 5. Skoda also suspended production due to the disruption in the supply chain.

There are currently around ten Skoda experts in Slovenia to help KLS Ljubno ramp up production, Handelsblatt reported.

KLS Ljubno said in August that its production facilities in the Loke industrial zone were completely destroyed by the floods. The damage to machinery and equipment at the factory is estimated at between 30 million euro ($32 million) and 50 million euro.

($ = 0.93769 euro)