- 'Impossible': Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote
- Verstappen says 'silly' swearing row could hasten F1 exit
- Calls for Israel and Hezbollah to step back from the abyss
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to avoid 'catastrophe'
- Colombia battles fires as drought fuels Latin American flames
- Pressure piles on new French government from day one
- Arteta proud as Arsenal salvage point from 'impossible' task
- Barca rout Villarreal in thriller but Ter Stegen hurt
- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
- Military escalation not in Israel's 'best interest': White House
- Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
- Classes resume at Bangladesh university at heart of protests
- 'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting
- 'Warrior' Joshua vows to fight on despite Dubois mauling
- Martin extends MotoGP lead as Bastianini wins at Misano and Bagnaia crashes out
- New French government instantly under pressure on multiple fronts
- Australia's Brown adds world title to Olympic time trial gold
- Russian strike on Ukraine's Kharkiv wounds 21
- UK's Starmer rules out austerity as Labour conference opens
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: projected results
- Israel says 'landed blows' on Hezbollah as Lebanon violence intensifies
- Roma CEO steps down amid anger over club icon De Rossi's sacking
- Incoming French government under pressure on multiple fronts
Inside VW's scramble to 'duplicate' Ukrainian factories
With the war in Ukraine halting deliveries of crucial car parts, Volkswagen and its suppliers are scrambling to find solutions abroad, while trying to reassure Ukrainians they aren't abandoning the country.
Like other carmakers, German giant VW has had to trim production ever since Russia's invasion last month forced many Ukrainian factories to close, holding up supplies of car components across Europe.
It is the latest upset to an industry already battered by two years of computer chip shortages and other pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.
"We are keeping our suppliers in Ukraine," Murat Aksel, VW's board member for purchasing, told reporters at the group's Wolfsburg headquarters in northern Germany.
But "we are currently creating capacities outside Ukraine because no one knows if the war will spread west or how long it will last."
As well as manufacturing a range of car parts, Ukraine is one of Europe's biggest suppliers of automotive wire harnesses.
A wiring harness groups together the maze of cables running through every car and is known as the vehicle's central nervous system.
In Wolfsburg, housed in the VIP section of the Volkswagen Arena stadium, a 150-strong task force of VW experts and representatives from Ukraine's auto parts industry is working feverishly to keep supply lines flowing.
Solutions range from sourcing replacements for certain parts or switching suppliers where possible, to the radical option of creating "duplicates" of entire factories.
The most likely destinations for these mirror sites are countries in eastern Europe or the Maghreb, where costs tend to be lower and where the companies can repurpose or expand existing factories.
- Bunkers -
Pointing at maps of Ukraine and Europe, Aksel said all 16 Ukrainian sites supplying VW with cables are only running at 30 to 40 percent of normal output.
And the situation is "volatile", he added.
One factory outside Kyiv has already been duplicated in Romania.
"If we put in place all our planned measures, we will be able to duplicate all of our Ukrainian production capacity" for wire harnesses, said Geng Wu, co-head of the task force.
In total, around 55,000 employees would have to be trained over the coming months and 90,000 square kilometres of factory space filled with the necessary machines and tools, some of which have months-long delivery times.
German firm Leoni, VW's main supplier in Ukraine, has already relocated some production of wiring systems to an existing Tunisian plant, and additional capabilities are opening in Romania soon.
But Leoni insisted it had no intention of turning its back on Ukraine as the country tries to withstand Russia's attacks.
The firm restarted some production in Ukraine on March 2 "with extra security precautions," said Leoni's chief operations officer Ingo Spengler.
Old Soviet bunkers near two factories in the Lviv region have been refurbished to help keep workers safe.
The company resumed night shifts this week, bringing output back up to 70 percent of normal production, allowing VW to restart its Wolfsburg assembly lines sooner than expected.
"As long as the security situation allows, our suppliers will keep producing," said Aksel, who visited Ukraine with Spengler earlier this month.
Without the Ukrainian sites staying operational, European car manufacturing plants would be in a "dramatic" situation, Wu added.
- Lessons learned -
Of course the effort and money poured into creating new capacities could be in vain if the situation in Ukraine unexpectedly improves.
But VW believes it's a financial risk worth taking.
"Not making cars at all costs the most," Aksel said.
But he rejected the idea that duplication could be the industry's answer to all its logistics woes.
Having a back-up supplier here or there can't hurt, Aksel said.
But you "can't duplicate the whole vehicle".
Volkswagen plans to use the lessons learned from Ukraine to "better understand" the intricacies of its supply chains and minimise the risk of future upheaval.
"This was not our way of doing things in the past," Aksel said.
But only being in contact with direct suppliers is "no longer enough".
To illustrate the need for early vigilance and attention to detail, he offered up a saying: "You have to be able to hear the grass growing."
D.Schneider--BTB