The extent of global challenges in the automotive sector have continued to be made clear as yet more North East suppliers have spoken of difficulties.
Business Live recently reported how semiconductor chip shortages and Covid disruption had beset three key suppliers to car makers. And now another two prominent names - Unipres UK and Faltec Europe - have reported widening losses in their most recent sets of accounts. A third, Elring Klinger, returned to profit but warned of a "very uncertain time" in the sector.
Nissan supplier Unipres, which employs about 976 people across its Wearside site, said total operating losses had increased to £15.7m in the year to the end of December 2021, up from £13.4m in the year before. While the closure of Honda's Swindon plant in 2021 dealt the firm a blow to its sales, it said pauses in production at other customers caused by chip shortages and Covid had weighed on its performance - though it also said it expected the semiconductor shortages to end in 2022.
