MILAN — Stellantis has halted manufacturing for at some point at its Sevel plant in Italy, Europe’s largest van meeting facility, because of a scarcity of engines provided by a plant of the group in France, a union consultant stated.

Sevel produces gentle business automobiles below the Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen manufacturers. Fiat-branded vans are fitted with engines the group builds in Italy, whereas engines for former PSA Group’s Peugeot and Citroen vans are provided by a Stellantis plant in France.

Nicola Manzi, the native consultant of the UILM union, stated Monday’s stoppage on the Sevel plant in Italy got here after an additional manufacturing day scheduled for final Saturday to assist make up for misplaced manufacturing had additionally been cancelled because of engine shortages.

“Operations will restart recurrently on Tuesday morning,” Manzi stated. “Clearly we can’t rule out extra stoppages may happen sooner or later, because of parts, supplies and basically one of many many points affecting the worldwide provide chain.”

Stellantis, which was shaped final 12 months by way of the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA, was not instantly out there for remark.

Sevel suffered a number of days of manufacturing stoppages final 12 months, like most of Stellantis vegetation in Italy, primarily because of a world scarcity within the provide of semiconductors brought on partly by disruptions to manufacturing through the COVID-19 pandemic.

As demand for vans has remained robust in Europe, Sevel now has an order backlog which it’s tackling by way of some additional days of labor on Saturdays and Sundays, Manzi stated.

The plant will work on Feb. 12 and 13, in two extra days that had already been scheduled earlier than the stoppage because of engine shortages, Manzi stated.

Because the begin of this 12 months the plant has been producing between 900-1,000 vans a day, not removed from a pre-pandemic peak of 1,200, equal to virtually 300,000 models a 12 months.