One of Europe’s biggest car plants halts production

One of the biggest vehicle manufacturing plants in Europe, Volkswagen Bratislava, has suspended production due to interruptions to its supply of parts from Ukraine and other issues, Slovakian media reported on Tuesday.

Production across all areas was stopped on Monday for two days due to a 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 company has been affected by the shortage of semiconductor components caused by the coronavirus pandemic, forcing it to discontinue production several times last year, with other Slovak carmakers experiencing similar problems, TASR says. According to German outlet finanzen.net, the current crisis in Ukraine is hindering the delivery of some parts to the Slovak manufacturer.

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.

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