Stellantis is forced to temporarily suspend production at the factory in Melfi in Italy. The reason – for a change – is not the shortage of microchips.
Production strikes are now the order of the day all over the world, mainly due to the global microchip shortage. However, the ‘chip crisis’ is not the reason that Stellantis in Melfi is temporarily shutting down production lines. According to Reuters the concern sees the low demand for the models being built there as a reason to press the pause button. This is largely due to the corona crisis.
In Melfi, Fiat makes the 500X and Jeep builds the Compass and Renegade. The pace at which that is happening now only results in a surplus of cars. The lockdowns depress the demand for new cars to such an extent that these three models are now running off the line in too large numbers, despite previous delays due to the chip shortage. The entire production in Melfi will therefore be paused between 2 and 12 April.
The local union is according to Reuters afraid that this is the start of definitive downscaling. Melfi actually has overcapacity and that may lead to Stellantis closing one of the two production lines for good. The Italians therefore fear the jobs of a significant part of the 7,300 employees in Melfi.