VW Is Laid Low by Defiant Bosnian Supplier Battling Cutbacks
- Volkswagen, Prevent Group reach accord on parts deliveries
- Bosnian manufacturer is Balkan country’s biggest exporter
In a year of almost non-stop crises following revelations of cheating on emissions tests, the force that finally brought Volkswagen AG’s factories to a halt wasn’t regulators or a court ruling, but a defiant parts supplier from the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Europe’s biggest carmaker stopped assembly lines for its best-selling Golf hatchback and larger Passat sedan as a result of the dispute with Prevent Group, a Sarajevo-based company controlled by one of Bosnia’s wealthiest families. The supplier, which provides Volkswagen with seat and transmission parts, reached an agreement on Tuesday to resume deliveries, and VW’s six affected factories will resume manufacturing on a step-by-step basis, the carmaker said following overnight talks.