Toyota’s plant in the Czech Republic will stop car production for 14 days starting Monday, March 22. Because of a shortage of semiconductors, which are essential for production. Unfavorable weather conditions in North America caused the situation, company spokesman Tomáš Paroubek said.
Toyota’s production lines will be shut down almost exactly a year after a global coronavirus pandemic stopped production. The lack of chips has been bothering the manufacturer for a long time, and the Mladá Boleslav-based carmaker Škoda Auto, for example, is struggling with it. It does not plan to stop production yet.
Under what conditions will Toyota employees be at home for the next two weeks? The spokesman did not say to ČTK. At the beginning of March, Toyota switched to three-shift operations due to the increase in production capacity. So far, it has operated in two shifts.
The lack of semiconductors also causes complications in Škoda Auto, production is being reduced, and new cars’ deliveries are slowing down. “The situation was exacerbated in February by snowstorms in Texas, where large chip makers had to stop or reduce production. For this reason, further adjustment of production cannot be ruled out. Depending on the new supply situation, Škoda Auto will do its utmost to maintain existing production and after the resumption of deliveries. Aftereted the completed cars, “Martina Gillichová, a spokeswoman for the carmaker, said.
It is a pity that the shortage of chips will continue in the coming months. According to a spokeswoman for Gillich, however, the problems concern car manufacturers and manufacturers of consumer electronics, computers, and telecommunications equipment.
Toyota also stopped its production lines a year ago, before midnight on March 18, then due to the coronavirus pandemic’s poor development. The company subsequently extended the shutdown several times, resuming production on Monday, May 25.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic was established on January 1 by renaming the original Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile (TPCA). Toyota and Toyota jointly took over the joint plant from the beginning of the year. It has been producing small, compact Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108, and Citroën C1 cars since 2005 and will continue to do so. Production of the Toyota Yaris will also begin this year.
The company employs about 2,500 people. On April 1, 2020, it started recruiting new employees for the production of the Yaris model. It wants to hire up to 1,000 employees.
The company is one of the largest exporters in the Czech Republic and the largest employer in the Kolín region. According to the Automotive Industry Association, the production of cars at the Cologne car manufacturer fell by 26.4 percent to 147,865 vehicles last year.