Volkswagen's Seat suspends Spanish production due to parts strike

MADRID: Spanish carmaker Seat said it had suspended all domestic production because of a strike at the firm that supplies it with seats.

The strike at Johnson Controls Eurosit began on Wednesday, the carmaker, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, said in a statement.

Seat's Spanish plant, at Martorell in Barcelona, has a capacity of 2,100 vehicles per day and produces the Leon and Ibiza marques, as well as the Audi Q3.

The strike is due to last until Tuesday and follows attempts by the parts firm to cut salaries in a bid to secure a new contract with VW, according to Spanish trade magazine La Tribuna de Automocion.

On Tuesday Seat said own-marque sales in the six months to June rose 8 percent to 215,000 cars, its best first half result since 2007.

Outside Spain, VW produces Seat vehicles at three plants in Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Johnson Controls Eurosit is the Spanish unit of Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls Inc.