As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, essential parts for builders are becoming increasingly scarce. Result: Merces-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Bentley, Aston Martin, Volvo, Harley-Davidson, Ford and Rolls-Royce were followed more recently by Porsche and BMW in plant closure announcements.
These same actors warn of new difficulties to come. BMW is signaling that two of its German factories could be forced to close as early as next week. Same story for the Mini factory in London. AvtoVAZ, a subsidiary of Renault and at the origin of Lada, has also just announced the shutdown of its factories for four days due to problems with the supply of semiconductors. The Renault factory in Moscow had already been shut down since February 28.
At the same time, manufacturers have decided to stop or cancel their sales to Russia. These brands are increasingly facing payment defaults – the EU coming fromexclude seven Russian banks from the SWIFT system
– or fear damage to their reputation. In this category, there are Bentley and Aston-Martin, whose turnover in Russia is in any case marginal (2% of activity for Bentley, 1% for Aston Martin). Honda also canceled its sales while recalling that it intended to leave the Russian market this year.
Conversely, other manufacturers say they want to continue their activity as much as possible. This is the case of Stellantis, owner of brands such as Jeep, Peugeot or Fiat, which says it is determined to continue its sales in Russia “ as long as the sanctions allow ».