BMW will be halting production of vehicles next week at its plants in Munich and in Dingolfing, Germany, as well as for the MINI plant in Oxford, England due to interrupted supply of key components, Automotive News Europe reported.
The interruption in vehicle output arose from disrupted deliveries of wiring harnesses from German cable producer Leoni, which has two plants in Ukraine employing around 7,000 staff. “Logistics in and out of Ukraine are a particular challenge, especially because of the partly chaotic situation at the border points within the EU,” a spokesperson from Leoni said in a statement.
The German cable manufacturer is working to increase production capacity at other sites in order to offset the shortfall due to the disruption at its main sites in Ukraine, while prioritising the safety of its employees, according to the report.
German automotive companies and suppliers maintain nearly 50 production sites in Russia and Ukraine, according to German automotive lobby group VDA.
“The conflict in Ukraine is having a far-reaching impact on production in the supplier industry there. The resulting production stoppages will lead to successive production adjustments and interruptions at several BMW plants,” a company spokesperson told German news outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
BMW has set up a crisis team to work around the supply disruption, similar to those formed by other automakers such as Volkswagen and Stellantis which have been similarly affected, Automotive News Europe wrote. Specialist departments are in talks with suppliers to secure supplies from alternative production sites in order to restart vehicle production as quickly as possible, the BMW spokesperson told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Adjustments to production shifts will also be necessary at BMW’s Leipzig and Regensburg production facilities, the spokesperson also told the newspaper; at Leipzig, one of the two shifts will be cancelled, while Regensburg will also be limited to one shift.
On the other hand, BMW manufacturing plants in the United States, China and Mexico are not affected by the Ukraine crisis as these operations have different suppliers, the automaker’s spokesperson told Süddeutsche Zeitung; this means that nearly all of the European production for BMW is affected by the Ukraine crisis.
In terms of exports, BMW said it has halted the export of its vehicles to Russia, and will also stop production in the country, said the report.
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Nama Jerman but buatan Ukraine. Adoi!
Besides crippling automotive industry. Now Deutscheland is extremely worried of its gas supply from Ruskie after sanction.
Sanctions now bite back… isn’t it?
Europe learning the hard lesson of biting back the hand that feeds it eh? Should have placated Putin now it is too late. Time for them to Euroxit