Porsche Suspending Production of the Electric Taycan Sedan at its Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Plant Due to Component Shortages

author: FutureCar Staff    

A Porsche Taycan electric sedan on the assembly line at the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Plant.

Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche AG, says its will temporarily suspend production of the electric Taycan at its Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Plant until the end of next week, the company said in a statement to Reuters, citing a lack of components.

The plant assembles around 200 Taycan's per day, Porsche said.

As reported by Reuters last week, German automakers Volkswagen, BMW and Porsche have been struggling to source much-needed wiring harnesses for their vehicles as suppliers in western Ukraine have been shuttered by the Russian invasion.

The wiring harnesses help to bundle and manage up to 3 miles of wiring a modern vehicle might use. Since the wiring harnesses are unique to each vehicle, the part cannot simply be sourced from another supplier. Therefore vehicle assembly cannot be completed, which has idled the Taycan factory.

One of three biggest suppliers of wiring harnesses is Germany-based Leoni, Japan's Fujikura U.S. company Nexans. Leoni has two wire harness factories in western Ukraine. In a statement to Reuters, the company said its scrambling to "compensate for production losses" and "interruptions in our two plants in Stryi and Kolomyja, triggered by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine."

Around 20 companies produce components for automakers in Ukraine spread across roughly 30 manufacturing sites. The companies have already invested $600 million to establish manufacturing in the now war-torn country. Two major suppliers Aptiv and Bosch also have manufacturing facilities in Ukraine.

Bosch operates a single factory in Ukraine, which is also shuttered as a result of the conflict there. In an email to Automotive News Europe, Bosch wrote that "Production has been suspended - our customers have been informed accordingly." 

Aptive shutdown its factory in Ukraine last week as a result of the worsening situation.

Porsche invested roughly 700 million euros (775.5 million) in the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Plant to build out the new production facilities for the Taycan. The plant officially opened on Sept 9, 2019. 

In January, Porsche introduced new Taycan Sport Turismo models for the European market, which includes the Taycan Cross Turismo wagon. Porsche planned to launch the new Taycan Sport Turismo models in Europe this month.

The Taycan is a close competitor to the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air Sedan and new Mercedes Benz EQS.

Porsche offers a total of ten different Taycan Models which cost as much as $187,600 for the top-of-the-line Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo. However, not all of them are available in North America.

A year ago, Porsche introduced an entry-level Taycan model in the U.S. with a starting price of $82,700. Porsche offers it exclusively in rear-wheel-drive. The second least expensive model is the sportier Taycan 4S, which costs $103,800 and comes with an all-wheel-drive setup.

Before the Taycan 4S was launched, it was the most affordable model in Porsche's North American lineup with prices starting at $103,800. The top of the line 670 hp Taycan Turbo starts at $150,900. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is expected to cause further disruptions of automakers production besides the lack of wiring harnesses, including the rising prices of raw materials like steel for vehicle bodies.

Other metals, including aluminum and palladium, both hit record highs on Monday. The price of nickel surpassed the $100,000-a-ton level for the first time ever yesterday. Nickel is used to make stainless steel, as well as electric vehicle batteries.

FutureCar Staff