Volkswagen Group has been severely impacted by a lack of components, specifically wire harnesses, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where suppliers were located.
According to Automobilwoche (via Electrive), the group's main plant for MEB-based electric cars in Zwickau will not resume production until the beginning of April, after it was first halted in late February (the pause was later extended from March 7 to March 18).
The site was envisioned for 330,000 BEVs per year, including Volkswagen ID.3, Volkswagen ID.4, Volkswagen ID.5, Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron and Cupra Born.
The same situation concerns the Transparent Factory in Dresden, where at a smaller scale the company was producing the Volkswagen ID.3.
“Dresden will also remain closed at the beginning of April,”
In other words, the group is now not producing MEB-based electric cars in Germany. Meanwhile, two additional sites in Germany are preparing to launch production: Emden (Volkswagen ID. 4) and Hanover (Volkswagen ID. Buzz).
Skoda's plant in Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic) also struggled to maintain normal production of the Skoda Enyaq iV and at least reduced output (according to Automotive News Europe, as of early March).
The group is in the process of securing parts supply, but it might take some time before everything will return to volume production.
For now, it seems that it will be a major blow to Volkswagen plans, especially since demand was pretty high with a long order backlog and improving profitability.
This is bad news also for EV buyers who will have to wait longer for their cars. In the US, the situation might be even worse - because the local production of MEB-based cars has not yet launched, and sales depend on imports from Germany.
At least in the short term, this is a big opportunity to gain market share by other manufacturers like Tesla, Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai and Kia) and others (maybe Chinese brands) who seem less impacted by the war.
