VW slows factory output; controlling family vows to keep jobs

The company\'s Wolfsburg plant faces a two-week Christmas shutdown to prevent inventory buildup.

Volkswagen is reportedly preparing to halt production at its Wolfsburg factory for several weeks, though members of the company's controlling family have promised to avoid cutting jobs.

Sales in the US market were down by nearly 25 percent in November, while market share at home in Germany slid by 2.3 percent, according to Bloomberg. TDI sales accounted for approximately 23 percent of US sales in August, before the diesel scandal came to light. Many models are currently sitting in inventory until VW implements its refit program to bring the vehicles back into compliance.

To prevent inventory from building up, workers at the Wolfsburg plant will be sent home for more than three weeks from mid-December to early in January. The facility is one of the largest automotive production plants in the world, with annual production capacity in excess of 800,000 units.

"I am of the rock-solid conviction that Volkswagen can weather the situation and emerge even stronger from the crisis," said Wolfgang Porsche, chairman of the Porsche SE holding company that owns a majority stake in VW shares, in a speech to Wolfsburg employees. "No one here is giving into panic."

The company has already announced a seemingly simple fix for its Euro-spec vehicles with 1.6- and 2.0-liter TDI engines, which will receive a new 'flow transformer' in the air intake to improve measuring accuracy of the air mass flow sensor.

A resolution for US-market vehicles has not been detailed. In any case, the repair program is expected to begin early in 2016 and continue through the year.