Milestone for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: Września plant output hits 200,000 units
200,000 vehicles in 39 months: at the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles plant in the Polish city of Września this production record is a reason to celebrate. In only around three years since the start of production in September 2016, the workers at the plant, which had already been built in record time, have in total turned out 200,000 Crafter and MAN TGE vehicles.
The landmark vehicle is a Crafter panel van with a 177 PS 2.0-litre TDI engine and 6-speed manual gearbox. Painted in a Deep Ocean Blue finish, the vehicle will be staying in Poland, as it is going to a small company in Zielona Góra. Since the start of production in autumn 2016, the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles plant has to date produced around 172,600 Crafter vans and, for sister Group company MAN, 27,400 Crafter-based TGE models.
Christiane Engel, Plant Director at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Września, is celebrating with her team: "We are very pleased about the 200,000th vehicle, a Crafter, to come out of Września. This vehicle is proof of the high quality of the work produced by our staff and a mark of recognition from our customers all over the world." The fact that ever increasing numbers of customers in Poland are opting for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is also particularly pleasing: from January to October 2019 over 10,700 Volkswagen commercial vehicles were registered in Poland alone. That is 19 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year. In October 2019 nearly 2,800 Crafter vans were registered in Poland, also an appreciable increase of 17.6 per cent on October 2018.
Crafter units shipped to customers globally totalled 56,400 from January to October 2019 alone, a year-on-year increase of 25.2 per cent.
Volkswagen plant in Września: 420 vehicles per day
Built in a record time of just 23 months, the factory began operating in autumn 2016. Since September 2018, the plant has been running three shifts with daily production of 420 vehicles. By October 2018, just two years after the start of production, the 100,000th vehicle, also a Crafter, was already coming off the line. More than 3,000 workers at the plant make the Crafter and the MAN TGE, plus custom vehicles, including recently the 1,000th Grand California, the new, large Crafter-based camper van from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which is available in two versions.
Crafter
With two different wheelbases, three lengths, three roof heights, front-, rear- or all-wheel drive and superstructure and conversion solutions ex-works, the Volkswagen Crafter is as varied as the tasks it is designed to master. The standard safety systems such as Post-Collision Braking and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) assist the driver and provide added safety. Cargo capacities of between 9.9 m³ and 18.4 m³ provide space for four to six euro pallets. The Crafter can also be ordered with 8-speed automatic transmission, the only vehicle of its class to offer this option. In the shape of the e-Crafter there is also an all-electric drive system solution for inner urban use. Production of this vehicle also recently passed the 1,000 units mark.
Volkswagen Poznań
O Volkswagen Poznań Sp. z o.o. is the biggest vehicle manufacturer in Poland. 2018 was a record year in the company's history, with over 266,800 vehicles rolling off the Polish production lines. Volkswagen Poznań is also the largest employer in Poland, with 11,000 employees at four factory sites. Located in Poznań are the foundry and the plant that makes Caddy and Transporter models for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Based in Swarzędz are production operation vehicle parks, a supplier park and the custom vehicle production facility. Września is the production site for the Crafter and MAN TGE, as well as for custom vehicles based on the two models.
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