Volkswagen affected by the war: what happens to production

Deliveries of electrical wiring produced in Ukraine were hit by the Russian invasion.

Volkswagen will stop production this week at two German car factories after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hit component deliveries.

Production of VW, Audi and Cupra battery-powered compact electric cars built on the VW Group’s MEB platform will be affected.

The carmaker will stop production at its factory in Zwickau from Tuesday to Friday and at its factory in Dresden from Wednesday to Friday, a VW spokesman said.

“The Volkswagen Group’s global supplier network, which includes more than 40,000 suppliers, also includes some suppliers from western Ukraine,” the statement said. “Due to the current situation in this region, there may be disruptions in the supply chain.”

Among other components, deliveries of electrical wiring produced in Ukraine stopped.

Volkswagen didn’t need that problem

The Zwickau plant builds VW ID3, VW ID4, VW ID5, Audi Q4 etron and Cupra Born electric cars. The Dresden factory is also building ID3.

Zwickau is currently the largest European production site for Volkswagen electric vehicles.

Nearly 1,200 electric cars of various brands are normally manufactured in Zwickau every day, according to a report in the German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

VW Group CEO Herbert Diess said the carmaker had set up a working group to assess the possible consequences of the crisis in Ukraine for the company.

The company is already facing the impact of the shortage of semiconductors on its production, especially at its factory in Wolfsburg, which is building the best-selling VW Golf model.

Last year, 330,000 fewer cars were built in Wolfsburg, the lowest figure since 1958.