Škoda Auto cuts shifts at Czech plant after strikes on Ukraine

Czech automaker Škoda Auto reportedly cut electric-vehicle production this week at its main plant in Mladá Boleslav: according to local employees, night shifts have disappeared and pay has been cut to four-fifths of normal. The cause cited is Russian strikes on a Ukrainian wiring-harness supplier's plant, which is now completely out of action.

Why the supplier stopped

The plant mainly produces the Elroq and Enyaq models, with Peaq production gradually ramping up. According to employees, it's not yet clear how long the restriction will last. The cause cited is disruption to part of the wiring-harness supply — they are made at a plant in Ukraine that has been hit by several Russian air strikes and is now out of action. Škoda Auto has not yet commented on the situation.

The plant in question belongs to Kromberg & Schubert, near the city of Zhytomyr — it supplies wiring harnesses and electrical cabling to several European automakers, including Škoda, which receives components made specifically for the Elroq and Enyaq. In early August the plant was seriously damaged and halted operations indefinitely. Last Tuesday its remaining capacity was hit by another strike, after which, according to the head of the regional military administration's press office, Vitalii Bunechko, there were no casualties or injuries — rescuers and specialists are working on site to deal with the aftermath of the shelling. And last Friday Russia struck the remains of the plant again. Besides Škoda, the plant also supplied cables and wiring to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche.

What a wiring harness is

A wiring harness is a key component of any car, and in electric vehicles its role is even more important: it's an organized system of cables, wires, connectors and clips that links all of the car's electronic and electrical components. In an electric vehicle, high-voltage cables for powering the motor are additionally built into it. A harness is always made for a specific model, following the shape of the chassis, and the whole system consists of several kilometers of cable and weighs tens of kilograms.

A badly timed halt amid rising sales

The production restriction is especially painful right now: EV sales in Europe are growing fast, and Škoda has been setting records on the back of that very trend. In August, the Elroq became the brand's best-selling model on the European market — more than 9,000 cars were delivered, outselling even the Octavia. According to analytics firm Dataforce, the Elroq and Epiq rank among the five best-selling electric vehicles on the continent this year, with sales up by tens of percent year on year.

New models still available only for pre-order are also selling well: Škoda already has around 35,000 orders for the Epiq, and about 10,000 for its flagship electric model, the Peaq. The Epiq is built at the group's plant in Spain, while Peaq production is only just ramping up in Mladá Boleslav, so the current problems may not directly affect them.

Supply diversification since 2022

This isn't the first time the war in Ukraine has disrupted production for Škoda: back in March 2022 the company already had to pause Enyaq production due to a shortage of components from Ukrainian suppliers. Since then, the group has restructured its supply chain to reduce risk — Kromberg & Schubert now makes part of its wiring harnesses at a plant in Morocco and has expanded capacity in Romania, while Škoda and its partners have moved some production out of Ukraine and into Czechia as well. Even so, the company continues to order supplies from Ukraine, thereby supporting the local economy and ties with Ukrainian industry.

Since 2022, electric-vehicle output has grown sharply — almost fourfold at Škoda Auto — with sales climbing by tens of percent in recent months amid rising fuel prices. As a result, the whole Volkswagen Group is having to ramp up capacity in a hurry, and the same goes for its suppliers: in Germany, for example, orders for the flagship VW brand now more often go to electric models than to cars with conventional engines, prompting the group to cut extra shifts on petrol and diesel production while reinforcing its EV lines. Škoda's plants are also running at full capacity: from January to August, more than 77,000 new Elroqs were registered in Europe — 57% more than a year earlier — while Enyaq sales, according to Dataforce, grew by roughly a quarter, with Škoda delivering almost 53,000 such cars to the European market from the start of the year through August.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz

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