In recent days, the carmaker Škoda Auto has started storing cars at the airport in Hradec Králové, the production of which it cannot complete due to the lack of semiconductors. The carmaker’s cars are missing chips, which are in short supply worldwide. “In order to maintain our production capacity, we are forced to shut down already manufactured cars for the necessary time,” said Martina Gillichová, a spokeswoman for the carmaker.
According to Gillich, the maximum capacity of the airport is 1,800 cars. The airport belongs to the city of Hradec Králové. “The lease guarantee is for several weeks with an extension option. It is very economically interesting for us,” said Pavel Marek (YES), the deputy mayor of Hradec Králové for property management.
According to him, the decommissioning of Škoda cars at the airport has already been discussed once, but in the end there was no lease. “Air traffic at the airport is not limited in any way by storing cars,” he added.
Škoda Auto used to store completed cars at the airport, but at that time it was a larger area of the former military district of Milovice. The reason was changing engine emission standards and problems with completing testing.
Trucks haul Škoda cars to the adjacent area of Hradec Králové Airport. On Thursday morning, according to ČTK, almost ten trucks arrived at the airport between approximately 09:00 and 10:00.
The global shortage of chips also complicates production for other car manufacturers. Production is limited, for example, by General Motors, the Stellantis group, Ford Motor and Volkswagen. The carmakers believe that the problems around the lack of chips will deepen in the second quarter.
“We are working to minimize the effects of the global semiconductor shortage on manufacturing. However, we currently anticipate that the availability of chips will remain limited in the coming months,” she said. According to her, the carmaker will do everything to maintain the current production and, after the resumption of chip deliveries, complete the finished cars and reduce the waiting times for the ordered cars as much as possible. Škoda Auto has production plants in the Czech Republic in Mladá Boleslav and Kvasiny.
In the first quarter, the carmaker delivered 249,600 passenger cars worldwide to customers, 7.2 percent more than a year ago. In the first quarter, the company increased its operating profit by 46 percent to 448 million euros (approximately CZK 11.6 billion) and sales by four percent to 5.049 billion euros (CZK 130 billion), the company announced today.
In 2018, decommissioned cars filled almost the entire airport in Milovice.
Unique shots from above: Thousands of stored Škoda cars without homologation are waiting at the airport in Milovice | Video: Jakub Zuzánek
–
– .
