Chip shortages force Scania and Vauxhall owner to close plants

The ongoing global shortage of computer chips is continuing to affect vehicle manufacturers with Vauxhall owner Stellantis and truck maker Scania forced to temporarily halt production.

Scania said it would pause production in Sweden, France and the Netherlands for a week, marking the first time it has suspended production since a pandemic-related halt in April last year. Further breaks will follow in Argentina and Brazil.

Stellantis said production at its plants in Rennes, France, and Sevel Sud, Italy, would remain suspended this week, while its plant in Eisenach, Germany, was closed yesterday and today.

Global supplies of computer chips has been severely disrupted amid a surge in demand for consumer electronics such as smartphones and PCS during the pandemic, combined with swings in orders and limited capacity.

Meanwhile, car makers have become reliant on chips to manage engines and fuel demand and add features such as anti-lock braking and GPS navigation.

Production has been disrupted for months, including in April at Jaguar

Land Rover’s plants in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside.

Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest car maker, had to halt production at five plants in the US in March.

It has said the shortages could lower its predicted 2021 output by 1.4m cars, with the chief executive, Carlos Tavares, warning that shortages could continue into next year. “The semiconductor crisis, from everything I see and I’m not sure I can see everything, is going to drag into 2022 easy because I don’t see enough signs that additional production from the Asian sourcing points is going to come to the West in the near future,” he said last month.

Scania, owned by Volkswagen, employs 50,000 people and produces 100,000 trucks and buses a year.

Karin Hallstan, a spokesman for the truck maker, said: “It’s a difficult period and too many things are pointing in the wrong direction.”

She added it was “too soon to speculate” on the financial impact but that the company “hopes to be able to make up the shortfall by working as much as possible, although it’s clear we won’t completely catch up”.

Rival truck maker Volvo last month warned of production disruption, while Volvo Cars, which is owned by the Chinese firm Geely, has also been pausing production at a Swedish plant.

‘I don’t see signs additional production from the Asian sourcing points is going to come in the near future’