Skoda Auto announced a “significant reduction or even stop” production at its factories in the Czech Republic since October 18 and until the end of the year, reports Radio Prague International.
The automaker decided to limit the work of three plants in the Czech Republic in the city of Mlada Boleslav and the village of Quasins. According to the representative of the Directorate of the company Tomasha Koters, the production stop is related to the lack of semiconductors used when assembling for electronics of cars.
“The global crisis of electronic components did not bypass Skoda,” said the representative of the automaker. The company decided to focus on the revision of machines that are already in production, and not on the release of new models. The representative of the company noted that in the next two and a half months, plants will complement the assembly of about 50 thousand cars, which are in warehouses.
Due to the lack of electronic chips, the company is experiencing the most difficult times over the past 30 years from the moment of its accession to the international concern Volkswagen. Previously, Skoda has already stopped the production of cars in its enterprises, in September 2021, all the plants in the Czech Republic have stopped work. During past downtime, employees of enterprises paid 85 percent of the monthly salary.
The company is engaged in assembling cars in enterprises also in other countries: China, India, Germany and Slovakia. Skoda cars are produced at two factories in Russia. In this case, for the Czech Republic, the automotive industry remains the key sector of the economy. Because of the global chip shortages, other auto gigances were previously affected. About the stop or reduction of production reported Volvo and Volkswagen.