Increasing supply: Skoda brings Ukraine to produce electric wires at home
Skoda has taken the unusual step of moving wire production from war-torn Ukraine to a family factory in the Czech Republic – as the ongoing conflict disrupts supplies of critical components. .
The Russian war has severely affected Ukraine’s cable production line, thereby smashing many European car brands that depend on this key component. The broader Volkswagen Group has been hit hard.
Skoda was forced to stop production Enyaq iV electric SUV for eight weeks from 3rd March due to lack of mining system which had a big impact on the global market launch, resulting in significant delays and logjams.
Skoda and supplier PEKM Kabeltechnik relocated part of cable production from Ukraine to Mladá Boleslav within five weeks of the war’s start. PEKM built production equipment in assembly rooms provided by Skoda, and production ramped up from April.
The new facility is staffed by 35 women from the original factory in Lviv, who are currently training new employees. Mining for Fabia wagons are currently manufactured at Skoda’s headquarters, with harnesses for Octavia, Kodiaq, Karoq and Wonderful about to begin.
All Skoda Australia cars come from this region, and so this will help alleviate the ongoing shortages affecting local produce.
Skoda said it has only “partially moved” harness production to the Czech Republic – “in close coordination with affected suppliers”, it has quickly added – and intends to ramp up its resources. supply by starting production at other companies’ plants in Europe and North Africa.
It said the aim of the measures was to “protect the company even more effectively against potential supply bottlenecks and disruptions to the supply chain in the future”, adding that the The agreement will allow the current production volume to be doubled if needed.
The lack of wire harnesses is yet another headache for multinational car brands battling to make enough vehicles, coupled with ongoing COVID disruptions, semiconductor shortages, and more. and shipping problems.
“At Skoda Auto, we have been working very closely with our partners over the past few weeks to minimize the impact of the war in Ukraine on cable supply,” said Purchasing Board Member Karsten Schnake said.
“With great dedication, we managed to resume production in Ukraine in a short time and also significantly increase production capacity. I want to thank the entire team and all the vendors involved in this achievement.
“At the same time, I can assure our Ukrainian partners that we are and will be fully committed to them. They have the utmost respect for us for continuing to provide for us when circumstances permit.”
