MILAN — Stellantis will stop operations at its key Melfi plant in southern Italy from June 28 to July 2 due to a “structural” shortage of semiconductors, the UILM union said.
A spokesman for the automaker confirmed the news and said it had been taking decisions on its operations on a day-by-day, plant-by-plant basis since the start of the COVID pandemic.
“We do not expect to see a stabilization until the end of 2022,” the spokesman said.
Stellantis builds the Jeep Compass in Melfi along with the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X.
The new stoppage — which will follow a production freeze between Friday last week and Saturday this week — means the Melfi plant will have only operated for seven days in June, UILM metalworkers union said.
Marco Lomio, the head of UILM for Basilicata Region, where Melfi is located, said he feared July could be even worse.
“The company told us they had no visibility on supplies,” he told Reuters.
Stellantis employs more than 7,000 workers at the plant.
Stellantis on Wednesday said that production halts were also affecting two of its plants in France.