MILAN — Stellantis will halt manufacturing at its plant in Melfi, southern Italy, between April 2 and April 12 due to low demand triggered by the COVID-19 disaster, and never due to the worldwide chip scarcity, the UILM union stated on Monday.

A spokesman for Stellantis confirmed the plant can be closed throughout this era. All of Melfi’s greater than 7,000 staff shall be placed on a furlough scheme throughout this time.

Manufacturing on the plant, which makes Jeep Renegade and Compass fashions and the Fiat 500X utility automobile, has been repeatedly disrupted because of weak demand and semiconductor provide shortages.

The FIM CISL union said last week the corporate was contemplating completely closing one in all its two manufacturing traces on the Melfi plant to handle extra capability in Italy.

UILM spokesman Gianluca Ficco stated on Monday the corporate advised unions the most recent Melfi manufacturing freeze was particularly because of low demand and never a results of the worldwide chip scarcity.

European car registrations fell 23 percent within the first two months of this yr, in line with business information, as protracted coronavirus lockdowns and consequent uncertainty proceed to hit automobile demand.