Nio, Shanghai-based manufacturer of electric vehicles, and Stellantis NV were the latest to join the bandwagon of car producers to declare a tapering down of new production, in the wake of a worldwide scarcity of semiconductor chips.
Stellantis confirmed on Mar 26 that it would temporarily halt production at its five plants in North America from next week onwards, until as late as the middle of April. The facilities that will be idled include two Canadian plants involved in assembling operations, a Mexican facility, and two US-based plants.
The factories hit by the decision are Stellantis’ Toluca plant in Mexico that builds the Jeep Compass; the Ontario-based Windsor Assembly plant producing Chrysler Pacifica minivans; the Jeep Cherokee SUV manufacturing facility in Illinois; the Michigan-based plant manufacturing the Ram 1500 Classic pickup; and an Ontario facility where models, such as the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger, are built.
The automaker was unable to confirm how long the production lines will be down, though a union local that represents Windsor indicated a month-long production stoppage will begin March 29.
On March 26, Nissan announced a 48-hour suspension in production from April 1 at its assembly facilities in Smyrna and Canton, along with Aguascalientes, Mexico. Normal production operations will recommence on April 6.
Nio, among the largest competitors of Tesla, which rules over China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, confirmed production operations will be ceased for five days at its facility in Hefei. Moreover, the company slashed its vehicle delivery projection for the first quarter by nearly one thousand units.
Meanwhile, electric SUV maker Nio’s shares fared poorly on the NY Stock Exchange, tumbling 4.8 percent at the day’s end.
