Porsche to Pause Some Production, Blaming Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
A leaked internal email says that Porsche is shutting down various vehicle manufacturing lines in Europe due to disruptions of the supply chain, including wiring harnesses.Affected models include the 911, 718, Macan, Panamera, Cayenne, and Taycan, but not all production is being interrupted in the same way or at the same time.Last week, Porsche donated 1 million euros to humanitarian efforts to help the people of Ukraine and stopped all vehicle deliveries to Russia.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused human suffering, higher fuel prices across the world, and, in Europe, severe difficulties for automakers building cars. The effects on Porsche are potentially severe after what looks like an internal company email was posted to the Porsche Discussion Forums at Rennlist. The message says vehicle production lines will be “partly stopped for all model lines” during March and lists future stoppage dates for the 911, 911 GT3 and Touring, and 718, and says that production of the Macan, Panamera, Cayenne and Taycan have already hit their production cutoff dates.
The problem, as KBB reported earlier this month, is that an outsize percentage of wiring harnesses used in the automotive industry are made in Ukraine: 7 percent of all of the automotive harnesses used in the world come from Ukraine, according to a 2020 report by Alix Partners.
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Porsche did not deny the authenticity of the email when we asked, and what it did tell Car and Driver generally fits with the leaked email. A company spokesperson said production of the 911 and 718 model series in the main plant is not currently affected and that production of the Cayenne in Bratislava is continuing this week. But, starting tomorrow afternoon, Porsche will suspend Taycan production in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen until at least the end of next week. Porsche’s Leipzig plant (pictured above), where it builds the Macan and Panamera, will start up again in “reduced operation” some time in the coming week thanks to what the company is calling “an improved supply situation.”
Porsche Will “Continuously Reassess the Situation”
“The degree of impact on our business activities in the affected countries is continuously determined by experts in a task force team,” spokesperson Christian Weiss told C/D. “The supply chains for the Porsche plants are affected, which means that in some cases orderly production is no longer possible. In the coming days and weeks we will operate on a short-term basis and continuously reassess the situation.”
This is all on top of the thousands of VW Group vehicles that were recently sunk when the cargo ship carrying them sank in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores.
Last week, Porsche donated a million euros ($1.1 million), with three-quarters of the money going to the UN Refugee Agency assisting with humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and the other 25 percent to the Ferry Porsche Foundation, which will use the donation to help SOS Children’s Villages and possibly other children’s charities. Porsche has also stopped delivering vehicles to Russia. In financial year 2021, the company delivered a total of 6262 vehicles to Russia, just a small portion of the 301,915 vehicles Porsche delivered around the world in 2021.
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