Ukraine’s auto parts industry at standstill amid raging war

Ukraine’s auto parts industry at standstill amid raging war

PARIS: Ukraine’s car parts industry, which supplies many vehicle manufacturers in western European, has taken a battering since the Russian invasion one month ago. Factories are at a standstill, cable production has slumped and there are concerns about neon supplies. Ukraine saw its domestic car production industry nosedive when the Soviet Union collapsed but successfully reinvented itself in the early 2000s as a major producer of automotive parts.

The country’s proximity to the European Union, its skilled workers and low labor costs have attracted a string of Western manufacturers, particularly from German groups like Bosch, Kostal and Prettl. By 2021, they were employing 60,000 workers in 38 Ukrainian plants, according to government figures. The factories produce electronic components, car seats and, crucially, electric cables. A maze of cables known as a wire harness runs through every vehicle and constitutes its central nervous system. A large SUV like the Porsche Panamera contains several kilometers (miles) of these cables.

Before the Russian invasion on February 24, Ukraine was one of Europe’s biggest manufacturers of electric cable. Last year it supplied 760 million euros ($835 million) worth of cables to the EU’s automotive and aeronautics industries, according to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA). Some 45