Questions about the cooperation have been answered evasively in the past few days. The company, which was taken over by investor Siegfried Wolf last year, is now announcing that the cooperation with Gaz “will not continue as planned”. However, they want to stick to the business model with the development of their own brand for light commercial vehicles and buses. “These products are developed completely independently and components are procured as locally as possible, but also internationally, in accordance with the legal framework,” says a press release.
Steyr Automotive’s business model stands on two pillars – contract manufacturing and in-house development. Light commercial vehicles will continue to be assembled for MAN – the previous owner – until spring 2023. MAN parts are also painted in the plastic paint shop, which was set up just a few years ago, initially until 2027. Parts are also coated there for other customers such as Palfinger. From the turn of the year, however, electric trucks for the Swedish start-up Volta will also be assembled on a production line. This order alone secures the employment of several hundred employees, according to Steyr Automotive. And finally, Steyr Automotive wants to bring its own commercial vehicles onto the market under the “Steyr” brand. Originally, this was also supposed to happen to the basic bodies of GAZ vehicles. GAZ belongs to the Basic Elements of the olegarch Oleg Deripaska, Siegfried Wolf held management positions there for many years. He now still holds shares in GAZ. “As long as joint European measures sanction an exchange of goods with Russia, the cooperation with GAZ will not continue as planned,” writes Steyr Automotive.
There is currently no production at the plant – there are no cable harnesses for MAN orders, which are purchased from Ukrainian suppliers. Procurement is the responsibility of the customer, i.e. the Volkswagen subsidiary MAN. As reported, almost all MAN plants and a number of VW plants are affected by delivery failures due to the war.
Steyr Automotive currently has 2,100 employees, 250 of whom are leased and 150 are apprentices. Short-time work has been running until June (and since September of last year) – initially because of a lack of semiconductors, now because of a lack of cable harnesses.
Source: Nachrichten
