Czech autoland in danger

One Monday after another, the automaker announced that they were discontinuing production at their European plants. Due to concerns about the spread of the disease yesterday joined the German concern Volkswagen. He temporarily suspended production in the Spanish factories of Seattle and Slovakia. The VW Group is now also focusing on the Czech Škoda Auto .

The management of the company called the Škoda unions to stop the lines . “I want to negotiate a fourteen-day quarantine for our people,” said Jaroslav Povšík, the leader of the Škoda union, yesterday. The same request was made by the companies Hyundai also unionists from Nošovice . Concerted Skoda continued until evening. Company management did not comment on the situation in detail. According to news site Aktualne.cz, however, it is only a matter of time when and under what conditions production will be interrupted. Until the deadline, however, it was not clear how the trade unions agreed with the company. The first case of coronavirus infection was confirmed at the automaker at the end of last week. A Škoda employee has been infectedParts Center, which is outside the main manufacturing plant in Mladá Boleslav. However, unionists propose two weeks of quarantine for all employees. According to Povšík, the company would have disinfected all the plant sites during this time. Quarantine would thus prevent the possible spread of the virus among employees. Škoda Auto operates three production plants in the Czech Republic and employs 34,000 people. The automaker, which supplied 1.24 million cars worldwide last year, is linked to a large number of domestic companies and how it is just doing has a significant impact on the domestic economy. The automotive industry in the Czech Republic accounts for 9% of GDP and 26% of industrial production. “Production interruption in Škoda Autoits suppliers would have to follow for the same time. It would mean a major part of the supply chain that companies will have nothing to replace. On the other hand, it is necessary to expect that in the next few weeks the automaker will suffer from a decline in sales. It is therefore a question whether interruption of production would occur in any case, only a little later, ”says Jan Linhart, a partner of the Czech branch of KPMG, specializing in the automotive industry. The management of the Hyundai car factory , which employs approximately 3,300 people in Nošovice in the Frýdek-Místek region, discussed the possible 14-day standstill of production belts yesterday with trade unions , and another 8700 works for its subcontractors. According to HN, similar considerations are already taking place in the TPCA in Cologne, which is a joint plant of the Japanese company Toyota Motor Corporation and the French PSA Groupe. Over 2,400 people work there.

source; Economia, as...