Skoda Auto halts production for two weeks in Czech Republic

Skoda Auto has started a two-week halt on Monday as the global chip shortage continues to hit the production, the automaker said.

Skoda wants to finish 10,000 unfinished cars during the halt, which will leave only one production line running.

“Skoda Auto has been having a hard time with a big shortage of critical components, which has forced it to limit production significantly in the past weeks,” spokesman Tomas Kotera said.

Skoda, the Czech Republic’s biggest exporter, said on October 7 that it would significantly decrease or even halt production from October 18 until the end of the year due to the global shortage of chips hobbling the automotive sector.

The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.

The Czech Auto Industry Association on Sunday said that Czech automakers will produce a quarter of a million fewer cars than expected this year because of the worldwide chip shortage, costing the automotive sector 200 billion crowns ($9.14 billion) in sales.

The auto sector is a major contributor to the Czech economy, hiring 180,000 workers and representing a quarter of industrial output.