Earlier in the year, Volkswagen put a stop-sale on the ID.4 electric SUV after issuing a recall for potentially defective door handles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), water can get into the electronic door handles, short the circuit board, and open the doors while on the move. Since a door handle fix hasn’t been issued, VW decided to pause ID.4 production temporarily at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant in the meantime.
“After extensive review, in response to the stop-sale of the ID.4, we will temporarily suspend production of the vehicle at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant until a remedy is available,” a Volkswagen spokesperson told The Drive in a statement.
In addition to pausing production, VW is also furloughing around 200 employees at the Chattanooga plant, starting September 23.
“While we address the issue, we are focused on doing right by our employees, dealers and consumers through this disruption,” the statement continued. “Approximately 200 employees in Chattanooga will be furloughed beginning Sept. 23 and we are supporting them by supplementing unemployment from the state of Tennessee so they will still receive 80 percent of their base compensation and will continue to be covered by all current benefits during this time. We are also exploring ways to support our dealers while we determine a remedy for our customers. This disruption in no way changes our commitment to the ID.4 and our growing BEV portfolio. The ID.4 remains one of America’s best-selling electric vehicles.”
This news could act as ammunition for the United Auto Workers (UAW), as VW Chattanooga employees just voted to unionize, becoming the first automotive plant staff outside the Detroit Three to join the UAW’s ranks. It isn’t a good look for VW to be furloughing employees right after that milestone, especially since there isn’t a timeframe for when ID.4 production might start back up again, and the employees can get back to work. Contract negotiations between the union and the automaker began Thursday.
Since a fix for the ID.4’s door handles still isn’t available, that leaves 98,806 potentially concerned owners wondering when this will all be sorted. Fortunately, according to the NHTSA, only 1% of recalled vehicles are estimated to be affected. As for an ETA, VW has nothing to offer yet; the report simply states that “the planned recall remedy and series production countermeasures are still under development.”
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