BMW, Volkswagen close production sites across Europe due to lack of Ukrainian raw material

Two major automobile manufacturers have been forced to idle plants across Europe due to the lack of Ukraine manufactured spare parts, marking the blatant impact of Russia’s ongoing invasion of the erstwhile soviet state. According to Financial Times, BMW and Volkswagen have halted functions in several factories after Ukrainian wiring plants came under attack and stopped supplies. Notably, Volkswagen has 120 production plants in 19 European countries while BMW operates 31 production sites globally. Both the automobile giants are of German origin. 

The main problem that the manufacturers face is that of the wire harness. "The problem with wire harnesses is that they are fundamental,” said Alexandre Marian, a managing director at consultancy AlixPartners in Paris. “You cannot start assembling even an incomplete car without wire harnesses.” Ukraine is the major supplier of wire harnesses. 

Speaking to Financial Times, Chief Executive of Volkswagen Herbert Diess, said that he was trying to explore all options, “ to compensate" production interruptions. "Currently we are trying to get the most out of the wiring harness production in Ukraine, but in parallel, right from the start of the conflict, we started to work on alternatives, which are on the way.” 

What is happening in Ukraine?

Meanwhile, the Russian troops have now reached as close as 15 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv. However, a report by the UK Ministry of Defence hinted that the Russian military was battered with excessive "personnel losses." As a result, Russians were calling in reinforcements from across the country as it “struggles to continue its attack,” British Intelligence stated in its latest report. Meanwhile, UK officials believe that the Russian troops are facing numerous challenges including unfavourable terrain, 'personal losses,' amongst others. 

As the situation in Mariupol continues to deteriorate on day 22 of the Russia-Ukraine war, Nexta TV stated that more than 2,400 civilians died in the city. Additionally, there is no electricity, gas or water in the city for 13 days and temperatures reach -5°C at night. 400,000 people still remain in the city. 

(Image: Volkswagon )