Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic in Kolín resumed production on Tuesday after a shutdown. Employees have returned to a full three-shift system. The shutdown lasted one week, beginning on August 15th, with employees on a full holiday before that. The reason was a shortage of chips for onboard electronics, which is plaguing the entire automotive industry, said automaker spokesman Tomáš Paroubek.
The company partially resumed production in the week of 6 September, producing several hundred cars, and normally produces around 1,000 a day. But the following week, the lines were again completely shut down, and now employees will gradually return to full production. Toyota employees were paid 80 percent of their average salary during the shutdown.
Škoda Auto in Mladá Boleslav, on the other hand, is preparing for the shutdown due to a shortage of chips and is planning it for the whole of next week, when it will take advantage of a public holiday.
Employees at all three Czech plants of Škoda will stay at home for 85 percent of the average wage, roughly corresponding to a day’s earnings. According to the Škoda union, there are shutdowns at Volkswagen factories around the world.