Stellantis to halt Italy’s Melfi plant again due to chip shortage -union
March 17, 2022
MILAN (Reuters) -Carmaker Stellantis will again stop operations at its Melfi plant in Italy for seven working days due to semiconductor shortages, a union representative said on Thursday.
Operations will be stopped on Saturday and restarted on March 28 due to a lack of engine control units due to the chip shortage, said Marco Lomio, local head of UILM metalworkers union.
“When parts are shipped we work, when we don’t receive them, we don’t work, that’s the situation,” Lomio said.
A spokesman for Stellantis said: “From the beginning of the crisis, we drive our activity daily, plant by plant …taking into account the different situations we are facing.”
The new stoppage, which will affect all of Melfi’s more than 7,000 workers, follows a similar 10-day production freeze at the facility earlier this month in response to the global chip shortage and a protest by truck drivers.
A worsening in microchip supply conditions triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also pushed Stellantis to plan a slowdown of production rates at Melfi, where it produces vehicles including Compass and Renegade Jeep models, from April 4.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Jason Neely)