Trucks can’t run without wiring harnesses and if your wiring harnesses are made in factories that are now in a war zone, then you have problems.
That’s the issue MAN is facing with a virtual standstill over the last two weeks at their main Munich plant and a plant in Kraow which uses truck harnesses normally manufactured in the Ukraine.
If you have a new MAN truck on order, then the company is saying it will be a much longer wait, but you can cancel and go elsewhere if you prefer.
The war in Ukraine is leading to massive supply gaps for truck wiring harnesses at MAN Truck & Bus. As a result, since March 14 there has been a standstill in the truck plants in Munich and Krakow as well as significant production downtimes at the Nuremberg, Salzgitter and Wittlich plants. Suppliers of truck wiring harnesses cannot produce at their Ukrainian sites or can only produce to a very limited extent. This threatens a loss of truck production for several weeks and a massive reduction in production in the second quarter. MAN’s bus production is not significantly affected.
“Due to the dramatic situation, the Executive Board of MAN Truck & Bus SE immediately took measures to deal with the situation. Immediately after the outbreak of war, among other things we began to duplicate Ukrainian supply structures for truck wiring harnesses in other countries. However, this takes several months. In addition, we have decided to comprehensively stop spending on non-business-critical activities and, until further notice, a hiring freeze. Short-time work was prolonged for the Munich, Nuremberg, Salzgitter and Wittlich sites and also extended to include administration. This means that up to 11,000 MAN employees in Germany will go on short-time work at the peak. Country-specific regulations apply to employees abroad. As a sign of solidarity with the workforce, the Executive Board will also significantly waive salary in the next three months due to the dramatic development”, explains Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus.
As the company is unable to meet its agreed delivery deadlines due to current developments, MAN has offered its customers an order cancellation. At the same time, they are given the opportunity to place an order at new conditions.