- Volvo cars also need to temporarily reduce car production during the second quarter due to a lack of the important semiconductor component.
- The factories in Sweden have not suffered any production stoppages so far and right now there are no decisions on future stops right there.
- “During the second quarter, it will be tougher and tougher,” says CEO Håkan Samuelsson in an interview with Ekot.
– We will do some form of adjustment in terms of volumes and between different car models in the coming weeks, Samuelsson tells Ekot.
The lack of semiconductors, which is found in various electronic components, among other things, is hitting the automotive industry hard right now. Many companies are forced to stop production temporarily due to the lack of the important part.
So far, Volvo Cars, Sweden’s largest private employer, has escaped relatively easily. But despite this, the factories in the USA, China and Belgium have had production cuts.
The factories in Sweden, on the other hand, have not been affected yet and right now there are no decisions on future stops there.
– We also have nothing in our forecast now that shows that it will affect Sweden. Although we can probably only get an overview for a couple of weeks at a time so far, he says to Ekot.
So the situation looks out to become increasingly critical and thus mean that fewer cars can also be manufactured in the future, exactly how many are unclear. It also affects which cars are produced.
Right now, for example, production in the US is lower than normal for Volvo and there are still disruptions in China.
But Håkan Samuelsson hopes that the shortage will not have to lead to any longer production stops.
– It can affect the volumes for different car models in different ways depending on which parts are missing.
The other big ones The vehicle manufacturers in Sweden, Scania and AB Volvo have so far performed differently. Scania’s production is rolling on, while AB Volvo will stop truck production for between two and four weeks in its factories. Something that means a hard financial blow.
Volvo Cars’ CEO Håkan Samuelsson believes that the problems with semiconductors will persist for a while longer.
– There is nothing that will blow past in the next few months. Expect continued critical during the second quarter.