Skoda to resume vehicle production after two-week outage due to chip crisis

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, had 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 10:00 p.m.," Kamila Biddle said, confirming an earlier report by CTK news agency.

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