Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) (www.volkswagen.com) produced 494,511 vehicles in 2017 — an increase of 3.8% on 2016 and a new record.

A significant increase in production numbers was recorded by the T-series and the Caddy, as well as by the Amarok pick-up.

Josef Baumert, the board member responsible for production and logistics, said the increases in production volumes are indicative of highly efficient sites and motivated employees around the globe.

“Digital transformation and close integration further improved working conditions for our workforce, while increasing levels of automation are visibly raising production and logistics to a new level.”

He added that the new record was also the result of continuously optimised manufacturing processes at all VWCV production sites, with the Września plant being crowned ‘2017 Factory of the Year’ in Poland.

Dr Baumert said that the development of further production sites as part of the ‘internationalisation strategy’ was progressing well.

“Following Caddy production in Algeria, manufacture of the Amarok has recently begun with a local partner
in Ecuador, and negotiations are on the agenda for establishing partners in further countries.”

At the main plant in Hannover, 200,826 vehicles were produced in 2017 (up 5.9% year-on-year and the highest figure in 44 years).

This included the first e-Crafter vehicles, production of which began at the plant late in the year. A high level of output was also achieved at the Poznan site in Poland, where 197,805 vehicles were produced in 2017 — up 6.8% on 2016 and a new record.

Production at the new Polish site in Września totalled over 40,000 units, while the workforce in Pacheco (Argentina) built 54,813 Amarok vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%.