Europe’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker Volkswagen Group has had to stop its production due to affected suppliers in Ukraine. VW and other companies rely on electric vehicle wiring systems made in western Ukraine.
The Russian invasion has interrupted the production of crucial EV components like high-voltage wiring systems. Many of them are made in Ukraine and exported to European car makers like Volkswagen.
Suppliers for European car factories in Ukraine include Bosch, Kromberg & Schubert and Fujikara. All of the companies have big production capacities and are based in western end of the country.
As a result, Volkswagen had to temporarily close EV production at its Zwickau plant. This is pure electric car production plant with models like VW ID.3, ID.4, Audi Q4 e-tron, Skoda Enyaq and Cupra el-Born.
The German car giant will also reduce output at its Wolfsburg plant.
Robin Aschoff, VW’s head of communications, said: “Our worldwide supply network includes companies in the western part of Ukraine, and due to the current situation, there might be impairments and bottlenecks along the supply chain that will have impacts on production.”
Other auto makers present in Europe like Renault, Ford have all said their production will be affected too.
BMW has said that it will have to cut production, but hasn’t specified which plants will be affected.
