Chip Shortage Forces Stellantis To Extend Car Factory Shutdowns

Carmaker Stellantis continues to struggle to deal with the ongoing chip shortage impacting the automotive and other manufacturing sectors.

A Stellantis spokesperson told Reuters on Monday that the firm is extending production halts at a number of its plants in Europe.

The car industry has been hit very hard by the chip shortage, and matters were not helped as they tended to hold small stockpiles of the computer chips. Even car makers with bigger stockpiles of computer chips, such as Toyota, have had to slash production.

Chip shortage

Indeed, Toyota said last week announced that worldwide vehicle production will be slashed by 40 percent in September.

Stellantis it should be remembered is a group formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA. Its brands include Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall.

The group has been feeling the impact of the chip shortage since February this year, when it announced it was suspending production at some of its plants in Europe, including Germany.

Stellantis was not alone in this regard.

Nearly all other carmakers have had to idle or suspend production at some point during the Coronavirus pandemic, due to the chip shortage.

European factories

Reuters on Monday reported that Stellantis halted production at three European plants last week, including one at Rennes and Sochaux in France as well as the Eisenach plant in Germany.

It is reported that production will remain suspended this week at the Rennes plant, while it will be suspended at the Italian plant of SevelSud, as previously announced, the spokesperson reportedly said.

Stellantis’s Sevel plant in Italy, which makes light commercial vehicles for Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen, is the largest van assembly facility in Europe.

One of the production lines at the Sochaux plant had not restarted as of Monday, while the Eisenach plant will not produce on Monday and Tuesday, the spokesperson told Reuters.

In July, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares warned the semiconductor shortage could drag into next year.