Volkswagen telling suppliers that its new EOS convertible faces a delay of several months must have generated a few
unhappy e-mails. Or rather, it might have, had VW let them know in advance of the press getting ahold of
the news. Instead, it opened up a whole trunk of funk that’s now being advertised in the media, much to the company’s
chagrin.
Company officials are particularly upset in light of the brand’s promised ‘partnership’ approach. The delay is
hitting smaller suppliers particularly hard, because some are more heavily leveraged, and others have capacity
issues.
While VW is paradoxically (and, it must be said, unconvincingly) blaming unexpectedly high demand for the
EOS’ delay, the crux of the problem is actually thought to be the complex five-piece roof mechanism, which is said to
be having trouble mating with the platform due to a lack of structural rigidity.