PSA Groupe says it is looking to Germany to make up the shortfall in parts following what appears to be a major blaze at its supplier, Recticel, in Czech Republic last week (23 January), which halted production at the French automaker’s Sochaux plant.
Very few details are seeping out from the Belgian headquarters of interiors specialist, Recticel in Brussels, but the company is confirming a “severe fire,” led to Czech authorities completely shuttering the Rai Most division and forcing the closure of Sochaux for three days.
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Recticel provides elastomer interior trim parts, such as skins for dashboard and door panels, which are sold to various Tier-1 automotive suppliers, but is citing Force Majeure after Czech authorities closed the plant on safety grounds.
Recticel declined to elaborate to just-auto from Belgium on any further details, but its invoking of Force Majeure has meant a hasty evaluation of its supply chain with OEMs, including PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen, noting it was collaborating with the companies to source production.
“Production restarted last Friday (27 January),” a PSA spokesman told just-auto from Paris. “It was stopped for three days [24-24 January], which is the equivalent of 2,200 vehicles [3008].
“Since Friday, it’s the Recticel factory in Germany which is supplying Sochaux. We haven’t partnered with other suppliers, but we have found solutions across Recticel sites, as in the one in Germany.
“We are going to get back time lost – our objective is have our customers satisfied. The factory [Sochaux] is working.”
For its part, Recticel earlier noted: “Recticel is now in a position to confirm no one has been hurt. Since 27 January, part of the premises is again accessible to engineers and contractors and clean-up activities are ongoing.
“RAI Most is covered by insurance policies which are in line with industry standards. Recticel is currently not in a position to assess the financial consequences of this incident.”
Neither the Czech Automotive Industry Association nor the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade were immediately available for comment.
