Vehicle production is likely to be affected by the crisis in the Ukraine, this is in addition to shortages caused by the pandemic and the global semi-conductor crisis. We will update this page with comments from vehicle manufacturers as and when we receive them. Note that this information is likely to change on a regular basis.

Skoda

ŠKODA UK production is still being impacted by the global shortage of semiconductors and the conflict in Ukraine, which will result in longer lead times for your customers orders. This affects both existing and new orders.

We are working hard to minimise the impact of these shortages.

Lead times are calculated from the date the order is placed on the ŠKODA factory system by your chosen supplying ŠKODA Retailer.

Audi

Of course all of us at Audi remain greatly concerned and dismayed at the news of the war in Ukraine. We are however, very proud of the joint support of the whole Group organisation across Europe, as well as individual efforts locally here in the UK, to try to reduce the suffering of the Ukrainians, for example by donations. We continue to hope for a cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy.

From a business perspective we would like to update you with this letter about the current, still very volatile and changing situation. You may have already read in various press articles, Audi AG like other manufacturers, is heavily affected by the incidents caused by the war. The supply of critical components from our suppliers out of Ukrainian sites is severely restricted. In particular the situation with wiring harnesses represents a major challenge, as these components are 100% essential for car production.

Consequently, this leads to necessary amendments of our production processes, such as temporary stops or significantly longer lead times of various models across the whole range. In some cases, we have had to even stop production for days or weeks at various locations.

The Ukraine Task Force, which was immediately formed, is working intensively to overcome the challenges regarding supply. Among other things, production of wiring harnesses from production sites outside Ukraine, as well as the ramp-up of all-new plants are currently being implemented. To accelerate the ramp up of these alternative capacities, various Audi car lines will however remain limited.A scenario for the restart of affected plants is already being planned and currently looks like the following:

Production programs will be updated over the next weeks, to reflect a new more realistic planning basis. Based on our UK order bank, this will allow us to update information of lead times by model. Please be advised that these programs may be subject to further amendments, and may also be affected by other semiconductor restrictions, which are not related to the Ukraine crisis.

In summary therefore, models more negatively impacted are: Q4 e-tron, A4 / A5, A6 / A7, TT and Q7 / Q8 – we expect delays in delivery times in all these models of several weeks, and will reflect this in our systems. Models less impacted are: in particular A1, A3, Q2, e-tron, Q5 and A8.

In general we will also be affected by limited availability of V6 TDI engines, all PHEV models, and different options based on semiconductor limitations.

The good news is that AUDI AG remain confident to be able to compensate much of the short term production losses out of the Ukraine crisis in the fourth quarter of this year, but this will require ongoing flexibility in model mix and seasonality.

We will continue to share production updates with you, and your nominated Leasing Company where applicable, to ensure your drivers are updated accordingly. In the meantime if you have any queries please contact me or your Area Fleet Manager.

Finally, we would like to thank you once again for your ongoing understanding and partnership in these difficult times. You can rest assured that our teams at AUDI AG and Audi UK are doing their utmost to improve the current situation and provide you with a better planning stability.

Ford

As a result of the conflict in Ukraine, a supplier of parts for the SYNC4 System, including 13.2-inch touchscreen, has indicated that they cannot continue to supply the necessary parts. Due to these production constraints, we are temporarily closing the Ford Focus orderbank on Friday 11th March.

Further information on this will be communicated in due course.

Due to the uncertainty of lead time for fresh orders with the impact of the ongoing global semiconductor crisis, we are temporarily closing the Ford S-MAX & Galaxy FHEV order tables on Friday 11th March. Ordering capability for diesel was removed last year and will remain closed.

We will provide an update on the reopening of the orderbank at the earliest opportunity.

Jaguar Land Rover

In response to the current crisis in the Ukraine Jaguar Land Rover’s first priority is the wellbeing of our entire workforce and their families, as well as those within our extended network.

The current global context also presents us with trading challenges so we are pausing the delivery of vehicles into the Russian market and continually monitoring the situation on behalf of our global customer base.

BMW

The unfolding situation in Ukraine is causing us all great concern and dismay. As a company, we condemn the aggression against this country.

The situation in the crisis region remains unclear. Governments have now implemented far-reaching sanctions, which we fully support. The war in Ukraine also has a significant impact on the country’s automotive supply industry. These supply limitations are leading to production adjustments and downtimes at our production plants.

Together with our suppliers, we are assessing the situation and defining measures to secure production again as soon as possible. At this point in time, and given the ever-changing situation, it is too early to evaluate the consequences on customer deliveries. However we are in constant communication with our associates and suppliers and as soon as we have further information your BMW Group Key Account Manager will be in touch.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Group is greatly concerned and dismayed at the news of the war in Ukraine.

We continue to hope for a cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy. We are convinced that there can only be a sustainable solution to the conflict on the basis of international law.

The Volkswagen AG Group Board of Management has set up a crisis management team to determine the possible impact of the war on the company on an ongoing basis.

A donation to the United Nations Refugee Agency of €1 million was announced at the weekend with further announcements of both financial and logistical humanitarian support in the Czech Republic from ŠKODA yesterday.

Whilst our primary concern is of course for the safety of our colleagues in the region above all else, we know you will be receiving requests for information from customers, and will also be assessing impacts on your own operations. Therefore we wanted to share immediately the information we have received thus far although we appreciate it is not specifically actionable in your own businesses.

The hostilities have of course created disruption to our supply chain from suppliers based in Ukraine. Our purchasing teams are working with maximum effort to find alternative supply lines for the critical components now in short supply.

A varied picture emerges due to cross-brand and cross-regional delivery obligations, which means that the respective production areas have to be planned in detail separately. Production schedule adjustments cannot be ruled out. Our crisis team is continuing to work on solutions across divisions and across all brands of the Group.

The global semi-conductor task force set up in the Covid-19 pandemic continues to operate in parallel as this remains an ongoing issue.

As any impact for customers in the UK becomes quantifiable and specific, we will communicate this directly to you alongside any recommended actions.

In these uncertain times you can count on our support with regular, open communications as the situation develops.