PARIS – Renault Group and Stellantis are the newest automakers to droop manufacturing due to a worldwide shortage of crucial semiconductors.

Renault will pause manufacturing at one web site in France and two in Morocco and Romania subsequent week for a number of days, an organization spokeswoman stated on Friday, with out giving particulars of the possible impression on output.

French information stories stated that the vegetation affected have been Sandouville, France, which builds massive industrial vans; Tanger, Morocco, which produces some Dacia fashions in addition to Renault fashions for export to Africa and the Center East; and the principle Dacia plant in Pitesti, Romania.

French enterprise web site Les Echos stated the Renault factories can be closed for “two or three days,” citing a Renault spokesperson, who stated the automaker was monitoring the state of affairs day by day to attenuate impression on manufacturing.

Stellantis, the automotive group that was created within the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler, can also be feeling the pinch. The semiconductors scarcity led it to droop manufacturing at its Eisenach manufacturing facility in Germany on Friday, the place it makes Opel fashions, and its Zaragoza plant in Spain, which builds the Opel Crossland X and Citroen sibling mannequin C3 Aircross, was additionally affected, a spokeswoman stated.

A choice whether or not to name a manufacturing halt on the group’s manufacturing facility in Poissy, France, which builds fashions for Peugeot and DS, may very well be made within the subsequent a number of days, a spokesperson instructed Les Echos.

Stellantis can also be planning to halt manufacturing at its factory in Melfi, Italy, which makes Jeep and Fiat fashions.

Automakers world wide, together with Ford Motor, Toyota and Volkswagen have additionally been affected by the scarcity of semiconductors. The chips are utilized in engine administration and driver-assistance programs, which primarily come from Asia and particularly Taiwan. 

Analyst agency IHS Markit stated the disaster may imply 672,000 misplaced items of manufacturing globally within the first quarter and warned that disruption may prolong to the third quarter.

The COVID-19 disaster has pushed up demand for chips utilized in electronics akin to laptops and telephones and producers are struggling to maintain up, with some Chinese language suppliers additionally hit by U.S. sanctions by the previous Trump administration.

Reuters contributed to this report