European carmakers hit by floods
12/06/2013
Hundreds of thousands of people in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been evacuated from their homes in the last week as floods swept through cities and countryside.
Carmaker Suzuki, one of Hungary's main exporters, halted production at its plant in Esztergom, north of Budapest, on Monday because of the floods.
Volkswagen was forced to shut a plant in the German state of Saxony as shipping on the Rhine was interrupted.
Last week, Porsche temporarily suspended Cayenne SUV production at its Leipzig assembly plant – which makes 450 cars a day – because of a shortage of chassis components. The high water levels meant freight trains were unable to deliver the components, which are manufactured in Bratislava.
Rating agency Fitch said the economic cost to Germany alone could be as high as €12 billion, while insurance companies have said the damage is impossible to estimate at this stage.
Share this story:
