One of the biggest vehicle manufacturing plants in Europe, Volkswagen Bratislava has suspended production. The halt in production is due to a combination of the ongoing crisis in Semi-conductor supplies and the Ukrainian war.
Slovakian media reported on Tuesday that production across all areas was stopped on Monday, and that the stoppage will last for two days.
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The reasons for the stoppages are the long-term lack of semiconductor components and a “partial supply outage of some parts from Ukraine”, Slovakian press agency TASR quoted company spokeswoman Lucia Kovarovič Makayová as saying.
The semiconductor components shortage was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and its had forced Volkswagen to discontinue production several times last year.
The current crises in Ukraine has also hindered the delivery of some parts to the Slovak plant, according to German outlet finanzen.net.
The Volkswagen Bratislava factory and two smaller locations in Slovakia employ roughly 12,000 people and are currently building the VW Touareg, the Porsche Cayenne, the AUDI Q7 and Q8, as well as the VW Up, Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo.
Last week, BMW and Volkswagen halted manufacturing at some of their plants in Europe due to interruptions in the supply of low-cost parts from Ukraine.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur