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Volkswagen's Skoda to resume production

Reuters . Prague
31 Oct 2021 20:11:00 | Update: 31 Oct 2021 20:11:26
Volkswagen's Skoda to resume production
A Volkswagen logo is pictured next to a logo of Skoda during the second media day of the 86th International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 2, 2016. — Reuters Photo

Volkswagen's Skoda Auto will resume production on Sunday at most of its production lines after a two-week outage caused by a shortage of semiconductor chips, a spokesperson said. 

Skoda, the Czech Republic's biggest exporter, has said on October 7 that it would "significantly reduce or even halt" production from October 18 until the end of the year because of the global shortage of chips hobbling the automotive sector.

"I can confirm that most of Skoda Auto's production lines will resume work after a two-week outage tonight, starting with the night shift at 10:0pm.," Kamila Biddle said, confirming an earlier report by CTK news agency.

The Czech Auto Industry Association has said Czech carmakers will produce a quarter of a million fewer cars than expected this year because of the global microchip shortage, costing the automotive sector 200b crowns ($9 billion) in sales.

The car sector is the backbone of the Czech economy, employing 180,000 workers and accounting for a quarter of industrial output.

The Czech economy expanded slower than expected in the third quarter, showing a recovery losing steam as external demand declined and the global supply crunch hit the car sector.

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