Due to acute supply problems, the Russian Lada producer AvtoVAS is sending its workforce collectively on vacation for three weeks from the end of May. “In the spring of 2023, a number of component suppliers informed AwtoWAS about the end of deliveries,” the group told the Interfax news agency today.
Auto industry hit hard by sanctions
The company, which was taken back by the Russian state last year, complained that previous delivery agreements had been broken with the termination. The auto industry is one of the sectors in the country hardest hit by Western sanctions following the start of the Russian war of aggression.
Actually, the assembly lines at AwtoWAS were not supposed to be shut down for three weeks until the end of July and the workforce sent on vacation. The compulsory leave is now being brought forward by two months and is scheduled to last from May 29th to June 19th. Otherwise, uninterrupted production would not be possible anyway, according to AwtoWAS.
Market slumps already in the previous year
Last year, the group had to shut down production for months due to problems with accessories. Because practically all Western carmakers have withdrawn from Russia, AvtoVAZ has expanded its market leadership, but due to these difficulties it has not been able to benefit particularly from the withdrawal of the competition. With an overall market slump of 59 percent in 2022, Lada sales also fell 46 percent.