Lee Sibley By Lee Sibley 3 years ago

Ukraine war stops Porsche production

Production lines halted in Zuffenhausen and Leipzig due to Ukraine-based wiring loom shortage

Porsche has had to halt production of its sports cars across the board and for all territories, 9WERKS has learned. 

The issue arises from the fact wiring looms for many Porsche vehicles are made in Ukraine, which has been thrust into a war after its invasion by neighbouring Russia. Understandably, this has lead to a shortage of wiring looms, which ground production of Porsche vehicles to a halt at its Leipzig plant last week, with Zuffenhausen production set to cease by the middle of March.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Porsche GB told 9WERKS: “The Volkswagen Group views the situation in Ukraine with great concern and dismay. We continue to hope for a cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy. We are convinced that a sustainable solution to the conflict can only take place on the basis of international law. In all activities on site, the safety and integrity of people is the top priority.

“The degree of impact on our business activities in the affected countries is continuously determined by experts in a task force team. The supply chains for the Porsche plants are affected, which means that orderly production will soon no longer be possible. In Leipzig we will be forced to suspend production from Wednesday afternoon (2 March), initially until the end of next week. At the Porsche plant in Zuffenhausen, production is still being maintained in the current week (CW 9). The further steps take place in an orderly process. In the coming days and weeks we will operate on a short-term basis and continuously reassess the situation.”

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    Porsche has advised that affected customers have been contacted about the enforced factory shutdown
    It means outside of the normal August shutdown for holiday season, production has ceased at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant in particular for only the second time in the company’s history, the first being in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Despite being directly impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Porsche has donated one million Euros to provide emergency aid to people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, 75% of which will go directly to the UN Refugee Agency.

    Elsewhere, Porsche has announced it has stopped deliveries of its vehicles to Russia with immediate effect. The manufacturer has 26 Porsche Centres across the country, delivering 6,262 vehicles to Russia in 2021 out of a global total of 301,915. A further Porsche statement said: “With the extensive interruption of its business activities in Russia, Porsche is basing its decisions on the overall situation, which is characterised by great uncertainty and the current upheavals.”

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