VW pauses e-car production due to Ukraine war

The car manufacturer Volkswagen is already feeling the effects of the war in Ukraine started by Russia after only a few days.

At the all-electric car plant in Zwickau, where almost 10,000 people are employed, production will have to stop for four days next week. The Transparent Factory in Dresden, with a good 400 employees, will pause for three days, a VW spokesperson said.

The main reason for the break-in production is the lack of cable harnesses produced by suppliers in Ukraine. As a result of the stoppage, a good 1200 electric cars from Zwickau of the Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Cupra brands will not be able to be built each day. The factory in Dresden produces VW's ID.3 in much smaller quantities. Whether and how assembly in Zwickau, currently VW's most important location for the production of e-cars, and in Dresden can continue the week after next is currently being examined.

Group CEO Herbert Diess said on Friday that Volkswagen had set up a special task force to assess further possible consequences, for example on the supply chains. According to media reports, the VW boss had reacted with horror to the start of the war in Ukraine. Employees had been offered the opportunity to fly out to Germany.

Nuremberg-based automotive supplier Leoni operates two plants in western Ukraine, in Stryji and Kolomyja near Lviv, where 7,000 people are employed. Both were already closed for the time being on Thursday shortly after the Russian attack on the country began. Leoni manufactures cable harnesses there, among other things; according to Leoni, VW is a major customer for the supplier. However, it is not yet clear whether the assembly break in Saxony is also connected to the production stop at Leoni in Ukraine.