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New car parking lot at Skoda factory Mlada Boleslav
Photo: Slavek Ruta / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has its first impact on the production of the Czech Volkswagen subsidiary Skoda.
The company said it was struggling with a “critical shortage” of parts deliveries from several suppliers in Ukraine.
Accordingly, several models of the car manufacturer are affected.
It was forced to restrict the production of the Skoda Enyaq iV electric car at the beginning of this week.
Skoda is working hard to find alternative sources of supply.
According to its own information, Skoda employs more than 600 Ukrainian employees in the Czech Republic.
The Group wants to support them and their families in this emergency situation.
Concrete help is offered with visa applications, accommodation, health care and integration.
In addition, Skoda donates the equivalent of almost half a million euros to Czech aid organizations and municipalities for refugee aid.
Stop of production in Ukrainian factory
In Solomonovo in western Ukraine, the independent Skoda partner Eurocar manufactures the Superb, Kodiaq, Karoq and Fabia Combi models for the Ukrainian market.
Production there is currently suspended.
"A decline in sales in Ukraine and Russia is to be expected in view of the current development," said the Czech headquarters.
With 90,400 Skoda brand vehicles delivered last year, Russia was the second most important sales country in the world.
Other car brands could also have problems with Russian or Ukrainian suppliers in the coming weeks.
The industry is paying close attention to how Renault is doing in this crisis.
No western car manufacturer is so closely linked to Russia, Renault generates eight percent of its core earnings there, writes the Reuters news agency.
Renault also holds a 25 percent blocking minority in Russia's largest carmaker AvtoVAZ, known in the West for its Lada brand.
Production at the AvtoVAZ plant in Togliatti came to a standstill on Monday.
According to a report by the Russian news agency Interfax, work resumed this Tuesday.
The lack of electronic components was given as the reason for the break.
For months, numerous car manufacturers around the world have been suffering from missing chips or chips that can only be delivered with a delay, especially from the Far East.
Last week, for example, production of the Mini in Oxford, UK, was suspended.
The outage at the BMW subsidiary even lasted a full week.
mamk/dpa-AFX/Reuters
