Toyota’s Kolin Plant Resumes Production

The carmaker Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic in Kolín resumed production today after a shutdown due to a lack of chips, but it will be limited. This week it will produce several hundred cars, previously up to 1,000 of them drove off production lines a day. It is not yet clear whether the production will be kept running, spokesman Tomáš Paroubek told ČTK today.

“We monitor the situation on a daily basis,” Paroubek said. The plant-wide holiday in Toyota ended on August 15, and production was shut down for three weeks due to a lack of chips. The planned production of the Yaris has not yet been launched at the Cologne carmaker. It is to be launched this year, but due to the lack of chips, the start of production is being postponed. The date of the ceremonial launch of the production line on Yaris is not yet known.

There are also problems in other car manufacturers, the summer shutdown was a week longer, for example in Škoda Auto. In the Mladá Boleslav car factory, some shifts are still being canceled, problems are expected at least throughout the autumn. Škoda Auto employees receive 85 percent of their average earnings for canceled shifts, which includes, for example, annual extraordinary bonuses. Employees will thus receive more for a canceled shift than for a job. Problems with the supply of semiconductor components are also registered by the Hyundai carmaker from Nošovice, but it has not yet had to stop production because of that.

The situation is difficult at Škoda Auto in all three Czech production plants. “The positive news is that we managed to avert an acute threat in the production of PHEV batteries, where the termination of the 20-shift system and the transition to a 15-shift system was considered, which would ultimately eliminate some employees,” said Škoda Auto Chairman Jaroslav at the end of last week. Povšík.

Noundai from Hyundai did not have to stop production due to lack of components. “In cooperation with our suppliers, we react flexibly to the current availability of specific parts and adapt the production plan. We strengthen stocks, expand the supply chain and, in cooperation with various semiconductor suppliers, look for alternative components,” said Silesian carmaker spokesman Petr Michník. He added that the company manages to keep the number of cars produced at a level corresponding to the plan for this year.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic employs about 2,500 people in Cologne, last year on April 1 it started recruiting new employees for the production of the Yaris model, it wants to hire up to 1,000 employees. It represents one of the largest exporters in the Czech Republic and at the same time the largest employer in the Kolín region. According to the Association of the Automotive Industry, the production of cars at the Kolín car manufacturer fell by 26.4 percent to 147,865 cars last year.