Production restrictions
Short-time work at the Mercedes plant in Rastatt due to the chip crisis
Daimler introduces short-time working at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Rastatt due to the lack of electronic components. Photo: Uli Deck / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The automotive industry is currently recovering from the Corona sales crisis. But another problem has been making work difficult for the corporations for weeks. Mercedes is now introducing short-time work in Rastatt.
Due to the lack of electronic components, there will be short-time working in the Rastatt Mercedes-Benz plant in the coming week. This was announced by a spokeswoman for Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans on request in Stuttgart.
The daily newspaper “Badische Latest Nachrichten” had previously reported on it. The plant has more than 6,500 employees and plays a leading role in the Daimler production network for compact vehicles. In 1997, the first Mercedes-Benz A-Class rolled off the assembly line there.
Production restrictions due to the chip crisis
The “driving style” of the factory will be adapted. That will be “largely compensated for by short-time work for the employees,” said the spokeswoman. How many employees are affected remained open. In contrast, the worldwide Mercedes-Benz plants will run “largely without restriction” in the coming week (from October 25).
In the summer there were production restrictions at several locations due to the chip crisis, including in Rastatt. Due to the shortage of semiconductors, there was a significant slump in sales. The Mercedes-Benz brand delivered 428 361 cars worldwide from July to September – that was over 30 percent fewer than in the same period of the previous year.
Many manufacturers are plagued by the shortage of electronic semiconductors. The production of the chips in Asia had been interrupted in several countries as a result of corona-related lockdowns. In addition, manufacturers aligned production for other industries.