Suzuki Hungary has declared a halt to automobile exports to Russia and Ukraine, adding to a long list of war-related ramifications in the auto industry.
According to Reuters, this is the first sign of a larger economic impact from the crisis.
The statement came in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has also resulted in a “economic fallout” in Central Europe.
Russia’s actions triggered harsh international sanctions and exacerbated economic hardship in both countries. The dispute, however, appears to have had no effect on Suzuki Hungary’s production.
“Our company has no direct Tier 1 suppliers in the areas affected,” its spokesperson, Zsuzsanna Bonnar-Csonka, told Reuters. “However, we are continuously monitoring the entire supply chain,” she added.
The main issue in Suzuki Hungary’s manufacturing, according to Bonnar-Csonka, is a global shortage of semiconductor microchips.
The company is also facing challenges as a result of rising energy costs and the depreciation of the country’s currency.
Suzuki Hungary distributes 10,000 vehicles to Russia and Ukraine each year, but it now plans to shift affected orders to other markets in order to offset the deficit caused by the suspension of exports.
In 2020, it delivered approximately 120,000 vehicles, approximately 100,000 of which were exported. This meant that Ukraine and Russia accounted for one-tenth of total exports.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has already resulted in sanctions imposed by a number of automakers, some of which have expressed their support by donating millions of euros to relief efforts, while others have shut down their operations.
Even Russia’s most well-known automobile manufacturer, ‘Lada,’ has halted production due to a lack of supplies as a result of the war.
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