Jeep maker Stellantis NV slashed planned production by 11% in the first three months of the year due to the global chip shortage and warned of additional cuts in the weeks ahead as the crisis lingers.
A lack of semiconductors resulted in a cut to planned first-quarter production of about 190,000 vehicles, the car maker said. The problem will force it to cut second-quarter production even more, but it expects the situation to improve after June.
Eight of the company’s 44 plants were affected to some degree by the shortage as of Tuesday. The company’s finance chief, Richard Palmer, said Stellantis expects the issue to continue into next year, adding, “It would be naive to expect it to just disappear.”
The warning came as growth in South America and Europe fueled a 14% rise in sales at Stellantis to €37 billion, equivalent to about $44.5 billion, compared with the first three months of last year, when lockdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic took their toll on sales and factory output around the world. Shares rose as much as 6% in Europe on Wednesday.
Like its competitors, Stellantis has been scrambling to secure semiconductors needed for onboard electronics, safety systems such as automatic braking and infotainment consoles in the face of strong demand from the consumer-electronics industry. In one factory in France, the company reverted to analog speedometers to replace digital board instruments that require semiconductors.
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