Such fast production lines in the mentioned hall have run only once so far. This was at a time when it was being tested whether the machines could handle such a pace at all. The trade unionists themselves speak of “crazy speed” and must ensure that there are always enough workers on shifts. “Last weekend, there was again voluntary overtime to process incomplete cars on the night and morning Saturday shifts,” the unions added.
Behind the sprint that Škoda has set in its factories is the aforementioned absence of semiconductor chips. The company is catching up with the loss from previous months, when it had to stop part of its lines several times due to a lack of electronic components. As a result, the carmaker, which is part of the German Volkswagen Group, began to accumulate a large number of unfinished Škoda cars. There were even so many that she had nowhere to put them. She therefore leased the airport in Hradec Králové, which she uses as a parking lot for incomplete cars.
Škoda bought a new robot to speed up production
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Škoda Auto uses a smart handling robot at its plant in Vrchlabí. • VIDEO Škoda Auto
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According to experts, the problem with the lack of semiconductor chips is more serious than the carmakers expected at the beginning of this year. “We expect it to last until the final months of 2021,” warns James Norris, an analyst at LMC Automotive. According to the one, the lack of chips in Europe will hit the carmakers Daimler, Ford, Renault and the Volkswagen concern the most, of which Škoda Auto from Mladá Boleslav is a part. “The lack of chips this year could result in the loss of worldwide production of two to three million vehicles,” Ondřej Burkacký from the Munich branch of the analytical company McKinsey told the Automotive News server.
According to some experts, the complications associated with the lack of chips may persist for several years to come. The reason is the enormously fast-growing demand. Strategy Analytics, a consultancy firm, says the automotive chip market will double to about $ 66 billion by 2027. This is due to the growing number of electronic systems in new cars. For example, according to IHS Markit, the Audi Q7 SUV is now equipped with 38 chips, which the carmaker purchases from seven different suppliers. And the failure of parts from one subcontractor can already cause production downtime.
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This year, the missing chips stopped production in car manufacturers such as Tesla, Ford, Toyota, Subaru, General Motors and Volkswagen for several days to weeks. So far, Škoda Auto is one of the manufacturers whose production has also fallen, but they have not experienced such a significant outage as other players. At the beginning of the year, the Mladá Boleslav carmaker managed to partially regroup its production in the factories in favor of those models for which it has all the necessary components. “We are constantly improving not only our products, but also our production processes to meet the high demand of our customers,” said Škoda Auto spokesman Kamil Biddle.
Nevertheless, complications in the Škoda supply chain have slowed down the production of gearboxes at the Vrchlabí plant, batteries for electric cars in Mladá Boleslav and models of the aforementioned Octavia model.
Last year, Škoda Auto delivered over one million cars to customers worldwide. It operates three production plants in the Czech Republic, and also manufactures cars in China, Russia, Slovakia and India, mostly through group partnerships, as well as in Ukraine and Kazakhstan in cooperation with local partners. It operates in more than 100 markets.
