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BMW will press the pause button for production of the Z4 and 5 Series at its Magna Steyr plant in Austria.
According to a report by sterreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), Austria’s national public service broadcaster, production will cease on Monday, March 14, 2022, and will be in effect for two weeks. A shortage of spare parts, especially wiring harnesses sourced from Ukraine, was a major cause of production shutdowns due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Whether production will resume after two weeks remains unclear as it will depend on whether supply chain woes will be resolved by then.
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A spokesperson for Magna said in a statement that affected employees would be forced to use their days off. Others will work from home on shorter workdays while some will be forced to use their overtime hours.
It is also unclear whether production of the Toyota Supra was affected by this spare part shortage.
The Russo-Ukrainian conflict continues to have an impact on various businesses, including the auto industry. Several automakers have announced temporary withdrawals of their businesses in the affected areas, while many have expressed their support for the relief mission to Ukraine.
Last month, a report surfaced saying that the BMW Z4 was getting the ax in 2025. The news claims that the automaker isn’t happy with the numbers the roadster is bringing to the company. This production stoppage will certainly have a further impact on sales of the Z4, which is not very abundant. For the record, BMW only sold more than 2,400 units of the Z4 at the end of 2021.
Whether this will affect the Supra’s future is still a mystery at the moment.
BMW declined to comment on the report, saying it “cannot speculate about future product offerings.”
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